I'm presuming you like the music.... a review about track se
briandowney | 01/27/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"hmmm....odd - with volume 1 of this series ("Mrs Clinkscales to the Cotton Club"), it looked like jsp were going to get their reliably exhaustive hands on pre-war ellington(or pre-blanton/webster ellington depending on your mood) and step firmly into swing society but volume 2 is a more desultory affair. it looks like this volume will have to suffice for thirties' ellington enthusiasts. when you consider that four cds were given over to ellington from 1926 to 1929, you can understand that there would be enough for, at least, three four disc packages for his thirties period but not to be.
the strange thing is that it starts off well. by the end of disc two, we've reached the end of 1932 - surely another two discs will get us to 1935ish and another set for one of the duke's most prolific eras between 1936 - 1939. i think most neutrals would be happy with this arrangement but for a more in-depth look at ellington in the late thirties, you would be best advised to look elsewhere. if you're feeling particularly flush you might go on to mosaic records website for a 7 cd set of duke's small group sessions on the reprise label (note: duke had a way of making small groups sounding big).
the only other ellington re-issues that i own covering this period are the naxos releases (some 6 cds covering 1928 to 1939). you wouldn't class this as exhaustive documentation either but it's worth noting that volumes 3 to 6 cover the 1933 - 1940 period - i.e naxos have four discs for this period whereas jsp have only two. as for overlap here, plenty but not as much as you might think - naxos are always happy to include ellington's 'name' tunes - thus, there are updated versions of "east st.louis toodle-oo" and "black and tan fantasy", plus versions of favorites like "prelude to a kiss" and "sophisticated lady" but jsp manage to include plenty of quality items not on any of the naxos discs as if to spell out that duke ellington was indeed quite prolific. yet they miss some great tracks like the already alluded to "stepping into swing society" on volume 5 of the naxos series. a brief note in terms of the sound on these cds - both labels are above reproach at this stage and i can't imagine them sounding much better but, after hearing reviews of the mosaic set, i may be wrong....
when it comes down to it if you own both jsp sets but want more ellington from this period, no matter which way you go, you will run into overlapping of material. i am happy with having the naxos releases though there's still the feeling that there is plenty more out there. what i can confirm is that volume 1 of the naxos series is made redundant by a combination of these two jsp sets apart from one track ("three little words" featuring the harmony vocal group the rhythm boys.... safe to say it's not essential).
as a final summation, this jsp set is well worth getting particularly for the first two discs which have an abundance of excellent material from late 1929 to late 1932. of course, it depends on what documentation you have of these years already but i would be less enthused about the final two discs - this is not a full picture of this period. of course, it is absolutely representative of the kinds of tunes that ellington played at this time but this set is really too big to be considered an introduction and too small for completists. unfortunately, it seems like a rare missed opportunity for jsp....
(addendum: after belatedly reading the liner notes, it seems that there will be another volume of duke ellington thirties recordings consisting of small group sessions. this has yet to appear but apologies for scandalizing the good name of jsp if and when it does. as i can't seem to change my three star rating, i'll make a desperate attempt to justify it by saying that after further listening, i think the naxos historical collections have a slight edge in terms of sound quality - still can't afford that mosaic collection though.....)
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