Search - Duke Ellington :: Capitol Sessions 1953-55

Capitol Sessions 1953-55
Duke Ellington
Capitol Sessions 1953-55
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (26) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (24) - Disc #2
  •  Track Listings (20) - Disc #3
  •  Track Listings (18) - Disc #4

Four CD set containing 88 tracks that covers the two year period when Ellington was signed to Capitol Records. The period between 1953 and 1955, was a hard time for the Duke, a moment of low popularity which would last unt...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Duke Ellington
Title: Capitol Sessions 1953-55
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Definitive Spain
Original Release Date: 1/1/2006
Re-Release Date: 10/23/2006
Album Type: Import
Genres: Jazz, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Swing Jazz, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaCD Credits: 4
UPC: 8436006493614

Synopsis

Album Description
Four CD set containing 88 tracks that covers the two year period when Ellington was signed to Capitol Records. The period between 1953 and 1955, was a hard time for the Duke, a moment of low popularity which would last until the tremendous success at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, when Paul Gonsalves? extended solos would drive the public into a frenzy. The Capitol recordings give evidence to the Duke?s urgency to find new forms of expression during this difficult stage of his career. This large body of recordings contains many elements outside of Ellington?s familiar repertoire. For instance, instead of playing his old and new compositions, he devoted many sessions to arrangements of jazz standards and popular songs commonly associated with other bands. The most obvious gems here were generated during the duo/trio sessions of 1953, in which the Duke was backed by Wendell Marshall on bass and Butch Pollard on drums. The last Capitol session, recorded on May 19, 1955, is another curiosity. Here Ellington again called upon a smaller unit, playing with a septet and on electric piano!!! Recorded in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York between April 6, 1953 and May 19, 1955. Definitive. 2006.
 

CD Reviews

Better than you might expect - not perfect
Patrick Burnette | Crawfordsville, IN USA | 11/05/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This latest reissue of Duke's Capitol sessions is not quite as complete as the out of print Mosaic box and, at $30 or so, not nearly as expensive as that issue either. The sound is quite good. The notes are minimal, but adequate, with personnel given. It would be nice to know how the label choose which handful of tracks to exclude, but no explanation is given. If you're interested in this period of Duke's work, this set is a must-have. There are some ho-hum tunes here and too many vocals (though the vocalists are always better than competent) but much good Ducal output as well."