DUKE ELLINGTON — Ellington '55 (aka Toast To The Duke) (review)

DUKE ELLINGTON — Ellington '55 (aka Toast To The Duke) album cover Album · 1955 · Big Band Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
js
Times were tough for Ellington and his band in the early 50s, big bands were hardly en vogue anymore and keeping his guys on the payroll was not always easy. After Ellington’s relationship with Columbia ended, Capitol came along and offered him a recording contract with the stipulation that he record the same crowd pleasing classics that he played at his ongoing dance gigs. I’m sure the Duke would have preferred to write new material and create something a little more ambitious, but a chance to record and sell another album was a way to keep his band afloat. With this work order intact, Ellington’s band entered the studio to make “Ellington 55”, a look at the past in one respect, but recorded for a fairly new modern format, the LP. This relatively new long play medium allowed Duke to record these tunes in far lengthier jams than they had been recorded previously.

All of the tunes on here are well worn classics, most written by Ellington, but some written by Basie, Goodman and others. The versions on here can be quite different from these tunes’ original recordings, especially the older ones. Everything on here is bright, bold and huge sounding. Modern recording techniques were coming into their own at this point and Ellington’s band never sounded so strong. If you prefer the charming sound of Ellington’s earliest material, than this version of Ellington's band is like a sledge hammer in contrast, not that they can’t be smooth and subtle, they most definitely can, but when the full ensemble comes on, it’s a whole new thing.

Some of these cuts really rock, particularly “Flying Home” and “Rockin in Rhythm”. “Honeysuckle Rose” has a nice groove and mixes in some arranged quotes from Parker’s “Scrapple”, Duke’s generous tribute to the bebop that knocked him out of the limelight. “Happy Go Lucky Local” has some dissonant piano passages and murky horn arrangements that sound a lot like what Charles Mingus was starting to play around with at the time. Most of the tunes on here are good, but some are almost too wore out. Ellington’s crew do their best to make Glen Miller’s “In the Mood” a little more funky, but that is probably the most over played riff in the history of dance music.

Its too bad Capitol didn’t offer Ellington the cash to make something new, but they didn’t. Kudos to the Duke for making the best of the situation and putting out a strong energetic creative album, not a tired look at the past. The entire band on here is excellent, no other band in history can move as one like this and the solos are over the top with personality and humor. Top band honors though go to Cat Anderson and his screaming trumpet that always comes flying in when the arrangements hit a chaotic peak, if you turn this stuff up loud enough, he’ll certainly knock the wax out of your ears.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Raw Blues 2 Blues
DOUG MACLEOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Memphis Blue : Sweet, Strong & Tight Blues
BARBARA BLUE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Nebbia. Salvo, Alarcón, Vogel : Pnkstrasse53 Avant-Garde Jazz
CAMILA NEBBIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Wunderkammer Jazz Related Improv/Composition
JAN BANG
Buy this album from MMA partners
Moving On Eclectic Fusion
ETERNAL TRIANGLE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

El Ausente - Classico Latino live in Colombia
CLASSICO LATINO
js· 45 minutes ago
Barbara Blue - Sweet, Strong & Tight
BARBARA BLUE
js· 6 hours ago
1+1=3
FLORIAN WEISS
js· 2 days ago
Bright Diminishing
HENNING SIEVERTS
js· 2 days ago
Tension
MULATU ASTATKE
js· 3 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed