Search - Duke Ellington :: Cotton Club Stomp: 1929-1932

Duke Ellington was a class act who excelled in every facet of jazz: he was a talented stride pianist who was always updating his style, an innovative arranger, a prolific composer, and a great bandleader who led a classic big band for 49 years! The first Duke Ellington reissue on Jazz Legends, The Bubber Miley Years, covers the 1924-January 1929 period. In late January 1929, Miley was fired from the band due to increasing unreliability caused by his drinking. Cootie Williams was hired in his place and he grew to become one of Ellington?s most valuable soloists, not only playing plunger mute solos in the Miley style but also taking open solos that displayed his own individuality. Otherwise, there were very few personnel changes in the Ellington band from 1929-1932, the period on which the 21 selections on this volume are drawn. All seven of the horn players who were in Duke?s orchestra in the spring of 1929 were major soloists. While Cootie Williams generally took the muted solos, Freddy Jenkins was a hot player influenced most by Louis Armstrong and Arthur Whetsol played quietly and lyrically, although sometimes the roles of the three trumpeters overlapped. Nanton?s wide array of sounds were always colorful, Barney Bigard was a fluent New Orleans-style clarinetist, Johnny Hodges developed into the leading altoist in jazz, and Harry Carney was the first important baritone sax soloist. This second volume of the Duke on Jazz Legends features 21 absolutely classic tracks gathered onto a single CD for the very first time, with remastered sound, detailed notes by Scott Yanow, and rare historic photos.