Customer Reviews

The Blanton-Webster Band

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This music is as good as any music written this century. Whether you come from post-Bird jazz, rock 'n roll, alternative, or rap, Blanton-Webster is a momentous discovery. Give it some time, though. The style may be a little foreign at first, and there's a lot going on in most of the songs. . . . However, unless you've just got to have the set now or have deep pockets, wait for a new BMG remastering, or buy the French Classic versions. The quality of the RCA set is awful. Errors in A Train have not been fixed. The overall sound of the set is very muffled.

As RCA/BMG just reissued a /wonderfully-remastered/ 24-CD set, which includes all of these titles, a better version of these tracks (about 7 CDs' worth, including alternate takes) is on the horizon. Save up for that instead! The sound on these newer remasterings is 300% better. No joke.

Among the countless issues in 83 years of recorded jazz there are thousands of highly recommendable albums, a few hundred of must-haves and a rucksack full of desert island discs. But if we had to load a time capsule in order to show future generations what the 20th century has achieved in musical terms, the instant choice would be - besides four or five other recordings - this set. I regrettably admit that I don't manage to listen to all my records, but through the years I listened to these titles over and over. Never before and after did an orchestra produce such thrilling music. The Duke and his men were riding on an, even to Ellingtonian measures, incredible wave of forward-romping, unprecedented energy. Some of Duke's best-loved compositions were made during these years (1940-42) and they cover the whole range of the Ellingtonian style, from his inimitable renditions of the blues, pieces of exotica and simple hits-of-the-day to tonal portraits, concertos, roaring instrumentals and mood pieces with all shades of colour. Billy Strayhorn had already joined the band in 1938 and blended his way of composing/arranging perfectly with Duke's. Jimmy Blanton came in 1939 and changed bass-playing forever. ...and at the beginning of 1940 Ben Webster added his wonderful tenor sax to the sound palette. All the old instrumentalists were still in the band and at the pinnacle of their technical and artistic power (Hodges, Cootie, Rex, Carney, Tizol, Brown, Nanton, Sonny, Barney,...). Instead of praising on and on I'll give you two selections of these great masterpieces: "I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I Got" - Duke's musical heritage was not rooted in the blues tradition, like those of Count Basie and Charlie Parker. As a youngster he admired the masters of stride and ragtime, the world of blues remained strange to him all his life. Nevertheless he left us a bunch of immortable blues compositions, harmonically undoubtedly blues, but arranged and performed in a way that no other jazz or blues musician did till the present day. The title is a lesser-known composition, yet it contains some of the essentials of the "Ellington-Effect". he dissonant piano chords in the introduction show us two elements of his genius: 1.He did everything his way. 2.Once we have heard his solutions, we are convinced that this is the only way it should be done. After the piano, Barney Bigard plays his clarinet in the deep reister, then Lawrence Brown's trombone softly joins from behind and they both create the famous "Mood-Indigo"-effect, a cloud dwelling on a gentle breeze. Then we moeet the three muted trumpets with an obligato by Ben Webster, soon supported by the unparalleled reed section, and Barney takes a flight over the crescending orchestra, now in his high register. Lawrece improvises over the original melody. Two thirds of playing time are already over and no other leader would place a vocal part so late. But Dike is different, and Herb Jeffries delivers the unusual lyrics convincingly. Then the trumpets and the saxes seem to stray from each other, polaying in different keys - which they actually don't - portraying the doubtful mood evident in the words. As the record comes to a close, we have learned of the beauty in the "World of Ellingtonia". "In a Mellotone" - For years, this has been the representative Ellington recording to me. The music as well as the title perfectly demonstrate what Duke's music was all about. The band always played in a mellow tone, never too loud, even when the volume was turned up high. Duke used the chord structure of the old tune "Rose Room" (which he recorded in 1932). But he did not only write a new melody on the old harmonies (as it was usual in the bebop era), it's the call-and-response theme between the three trombones and the five saxes that really carries the song and makes it so unique. The two sections play together as one, individually. The whole arrangement does not contain any ground-breaking device, no chords or harmonies presaging the modern jazz to come (like Duke had done so many times before). It's just a plain old swing tune executed in a simply perfect manner. The musical material is excellent and the band really shows why this is probably Duke's best orchestra and certainly the best jazz orchestra ever. The sound of the sections,the brilliant soloists, the rhythmic drive of Jimmy Blanton's bass, the importance of the underrated Sonny Greer and Freddie Guy and, last but not least, Duke himself - the piano player, who directs his sound machine from his keyboard with Dukish chords and a strong, percussive beat. There's only one flaw in this box. Its sound is inferior to the mammoth-box of RCA (24 CDs), but nevertheless I recommend it to every one. Just buy it! The sooner, the better.

The sonic restoration job was botched -- pure and simple. Many of the recordings sound suspiciously like fake stereo -- some as if the music is coming from the bottom of a tin garbage can. Fortunately, the same material (and more) is available on a new disc from Definitive Records of Spain, with much better sound. (Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia & RCA Victor Sessions with Ben Webster featuring Jimmy Blanton, DRCD11170.

Impossible to overpraise. True, BMG screwed up the first time around, flattening out the sound during the digital transfer and snipping off the first seconds of "Take the A Train" (for shame!). In the current edition, however, these little faux pas have been ironed out--which means that there's no longer any excuse not to buy this killer collection.By the mid-1930s, Ellington's orchestra was already a world-class ensemble--indeed, how could it be otherwise, with such musical personalities as Johnny Hodges, Bubber Miley, Harry Carney, and Sonny Greer in its ranks? Still, the addition of Ben Webster in 1940 gave the orchestra its first great tenor stylist. And Jimmy Blanton's singing, horn-like lines erased the last hint of stuffed-shirt, two-beat archaism from the band's sound. Ellington himself responded with a clutch of masterpieces: "Harlem Air Shaft" and "Warm Valley," "What Am I Here For?" and "Jack the Bear" and "Concerto for Cootie" and dozens more. So did Billy Strayhorn ("Take the A Train" and "Chelsea Bridge") and even Ellington's son Mercer, who stepped out of the Oedipal shadow long enough to produce gems like "Blue Serge." The Blanton-Webster Band really is a reason for living.

I have to disagree with the review of "Music Fan from Seattle WA" dated May 11, 1998, who claims the "little 'faux pas' (of the previous edition) have been ironed out." "Music Fan from Westchester" dated April 17, 1999 is correct. They persist. I now have a 12-13 year old set and one sent last week by Amazon. The problems referred to -- which did not exist on earlier earlier LPs, nor on some foreign CDs -- are still there in all their gory. Unless Amazon sent me old stock, RCA (that is, General Electric) has had the slovenliness not to redigitize these recordings for the Duke Ellington Centennial (April 29) over a period of 13 years. The good news is that those who are not familiar with this music may notice little wrong. Those who are may find it akin to publishing the American Constitution with several ugly typos! I suggest that the best approach to acquiring this music is to buy one of the foreign CDs (e.g. RCA/GE France: Indispensable Ellington vols 5/6 and 7/8 on the Black and White label). It would be interesting to see if the Complete RCA recordings are similarly marred. I certainly won't buy them until I know for sure. Five stars for the music, but minus at least one for the slick accountants at GE/RCA.

These are classic recordings, but as several Amazon reviewers have noted, the sound quality on this set is not very good. Fortunately, all the recordings on this set, plus some alternative takes, are now available in vastly improved sound quality on RCA's new "Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band" (ASIN: B00008J2IX). I strongly recommend that set over this one; this is absolutely essential jazz, and it deserves to be heard in the highest fidelity possible.

I've had this CD for several years, but have never really enjoyed it, even though most jazz aficionados say this is some of the greatest American music ever created. Then I picked up Complete Columbia & RCA Victor Sessions with Ben Webster (a 2000 release from Definitive Records, a Spanish label), which has remastered versions of all the RCA recordings (and more). I couldn't stop listening to it!!! The Definitive recording brings out all the colors that were missing fromt the dull, monochrome RCA. It's an entirely different listening experience. There's a little more noise and hiss, but that must be the price you pay for more texture and color.

I bought the CD set recently and the sound quality is as good as or better than the original 78's in my father's collection AND some of the LP material re-released in the '50s. The material is available (piece-meal) on other CDs if you so detest the sound quality.In general, I've found that material "re-mastered" and released on CD sounds a bit flat: the engineers try to compensate with their multifrequency equalizers, but it ain't the same. Anyway, the music and this band reflect what I see as the high point in Ellington's career. It's also interesting to note that record producers during his hey-day made some lousy choices in material for the band to record: it's fun to hear some schmaltz and novelty songs sprinkled in amongst the musical diamonds shining in this collection. This music shall never come our way again; so, buy it, savor it, enjoy it!

Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster transformed the Duke Ellington band. If the band was already the world's most sophisticated jazz ensemble, the addition of these two artists took it beyond mere sophistication, into a realm where style and art becomes indistinguishable.

Jimmy Blanton took the double bass out of its supportive background role into the forefront of the rhythm section, infecting the whole orchestra with an overpowering pulsating swing. No bass had ever had such a prominent, decisive role in any band, large or small. Ben Webster boasted one of the most instantly recognisable tenor saxophone sounds in the business: breathy, mellifluous, perpetually shaking with an impassioned romantic vibrato. He complemented the moody, velvety tone of Johnny Hodges' alto beautifully.

Most of the tunes are short, averaging around three minutes. Enduring highlights are "Ko Ko", "Cottontail" (note the swinging rapport between Blanton and Webster during the latter's solo), "Never No Lament" (with stunning solos from Johnny Hodges and Cootie Williams), "Concerto for Cootie", with fantastic playing from the trumpeter himself, "Rumpus in Richmond", "Sepia Panorama", "Blue Serge", a moody, melancholic piece, Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" of course, "The 'C' Jam Blues" and a host of others...There's over three hours of fantastic music.