Search - Duke Ellington :: Great Ellington Units

Excellent collection of Ellington's RCA small groups

Comic Online | Washington, DC United States | 08/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unless you're going to shell out the hundreds of dollars for the Complete RCA Collection, this CD is the only place you can get Duke Ellington's small group recordings on RCA (1940-1941). The sound is pretty clean, without much scratchiness from the original masters. While the sound could be slightly improved, it is preferable to these same tracks on the huge 24-disc box set (which i own as well). On that box set, there is an almost unlistenable amount of surface noise. This older remaster allows you to hear all those tracks without breaking your ear drums.



That all having been said, if you are reading this review, you don't need to be told at how great these recordings are. They contain all those wonderful sides by Ellington's small groups, led nominally by Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard and Rex Stewart. Ellington was still the real genius behind these tracks, as he did most of the arranging. The Ellington sound is clearly stamped on all these tracks.



Anyhow, if you are looking for these tracks, don't hesitate to pick up this collection from RCA. The sound is pretty good, and it's the only place you can get them from RCA, unless you want to get that enormous box set.



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