Search - Duke Ellington :: Cotton Club Nights

Good music from Duke's heyday

bukhtan | Chicago, Illinois, USA | 11/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD contains most, not all, of the recordings known to have been made at the Cotton Club between the 24th of March and the 5th of July 1938. They are on site radio broadcasts and not, for the most part, true "live" recordings. Nonetheless they exude the enthousiasm and spontaneity which sometimes marks live performances.
The CD actually includes 24, not 19 tracks. The unlisted tracks are, in order: It's the dreamer in me; Ev'ry day; Lost in meditation; Prelude in c-sharp minor (a take-off on Rachmaninoff); Rockin' in rhythm. Note that a couple of titles are second performances of the same composition. Two of the performances are by smaller ensembles featuring Cootie Williams or Rex Stewart. They are "Downtown Uproar" and "Ev'ry Day", respectively.
Sound quality is good for the period and circumstances and certainly good enough to demonstrate what the band sounded like. Ivie Anderson is extraordinary, at least equaling her (mostly off-mike) performance at Fargo in 1940. The sometimes blase Lawrence Brown is in top form here, and Johnny Hodges is as always memorable."