at a glance...

Hometown: Washington, DC
First Recordings: 1926

Members:
Duke Ellington -composer, bandleader, piano
Billy Strayhorn -composer, arranger
Cootie Williams -trumpet
William "Cat" Anderson -trumpet
Paul Gonsalves -tenor sax
Johnny Hodges -alto sax
Jimmy Hamilton -clarinet
Lawrence Brown -trombone
John Lamb -bass
Rufus Jones -drums

Notes:
William Kennedy "Duke" Ellington casts such a large warm shadow over just about all 20th century music that it’s easy to be intimidated; he was the consummate composer, bandleader, and class act in jazz, and he was also a deeply intelligent and learned man who changed the face of American music. But his work is always beautiful without being precious, soulful without being vulgar, and accessible without being simple- minded. He knew everyone, and everyone loved him, even notorious sourpuss Miles Davis, and he once recorded a trio album with compulsive fight- pickers Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Duke’s greatest genius was to find the best musicians and give them bravura parts, and none of his discoveries was more important than Billy Strayhorn, whose brilliant compositions and arrangements helped Duke stay at the top of his game. If you’re good and you go to heaven, you will meet Duke Ellington — he’ll be the one with the nametag that reads "God."

When you think of Duke Ellington, you think of "sophistication" and "virtuosity" and a lot of fancy words like that, which is fine, as long as you don’t forget that Duke could always cook too. Not Charlie Parker cook, mind you — in fact, the rise of be-bop spelled a very difficult period for Ellington, one from which he only recovered in the late '50s when everyone suddenly remembered that Duke wasn’t just some baton-twirler. This album, originally recorded in December 1966, has plenty of soul and fire to match its wit and layered depth; on every track, you can hear a great jazz master fighting to show the world what relevance is.

It’s a concept album based on the many trips the Ellington orchestra made to India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Turkey, and Japan. Duke and Strayhorn don’t try to copy the local musics they encountered on those trips, because that would have been uncharacteristically corny. Instead, they wrote beautiful pieces with a more Imagistic eastern feel. The "exotic rhythms" played by new drummer Rufus Jones on the opening track, "Tourist Point of View," owe more to James Brown than to any particular eastern land, but they sure kick ass. Paul Gonsalves continues to carry the band with his snaky tenor lines, everyone’s tight and correct —and is that really 55-year-old Cootie Williams playing that crazy Dizzy Gillespie squeal all over the place? Tourists, indeed. This is Duke Ellington making dance music again, and it’s fun as hell.

There are so many stylistic influences here it’s scary. Not only is the eastern thing helping to keep it all real, I’m hearing a little Leonard Bernstein "West Side Story" action and flourishes from film noir jazz scores on some of these tracks too. I also think that Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy must have bent Duke and Strays' ears, because there’s definitely some free-jazz excitement bubbling under in "Agra." This record, made when Duke was 65 years old, is pretty damned sexy and crucial, and it’s about time it was recognized as a great piece of music. Or at least played loudly by you when you drive over to that special someone’s house, when you’re thinking of the right things to say... Hey, Duke’s there for you. He always has been.

If you like Duke Ellington, check out:
Duke Ellington Blues In Orbit
Duke Ellington Money Jungle
Duke Ellington Orchestra Such Sweet Thunder
Joe Henderson Lush Life - The Music Of Billy Strayhorn
Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come
Don Byron Bug Music
Eric Dolphy Out to Lunch
Dizzy Gillespie Afro
Dave Brubeck Time Out

-- Matt Cibula

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