Duke Elegant

Dr. John | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 23, 2011)
• Original Release Date: February 1, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note
• ASIN: B00002MFC1
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,272 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > Indie Music > Rock > Blues Rock
  • #3 in Music > Indie Music > Rock > Classic Rock
  • #5 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF DOCTOR JOHN'S BEST EVER, February 16, 2000

By 

William J. Deangelis "blueshadow" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Duke Elegant (Audio CD)

"Duke Elegant" is a compellation of Duke Ellington songs and a tribute to a great American musician, composer and showman. It is also one of the best CD's ever put out by Dr. John, a remarkable talent in his own right. This effort has much of what Dr. John has done so well in the past -- but it also represents a breakthrough of sorts.

I have greatly admired much of Dr. John's past work. While he has extraordinary musical range, he is often at his best performing his own renditions of classic American songs. These, for me, have been most successful when he stays reasonably close to standard treatments, straying just enough to add his own distinctively subtle nuances. His versions of "I'm confessin' That I Love You", "Careless Love", "More Than You Know", and "Candy" are of this type and are remarkably successful. Much the same can be said for some of his more notable duets: "Makin' Whoppee" (with Ricky Lee Jones), "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" (with Harry Connick Jr.), and "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" (with BB King). His inconceivably joyful "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" is the best I have ever heard anywhere. It should be played at every ballpark in America.

Until this CD, I have not been as impressed with Dr. John's more daring and experimental interpretations of older songs. My feeling was, that his less conventional interpretations simply get too far away from what is great in the original material. (It's possible, of course, that I just don't understand what he is doing.) I've liked some of his own work too, but not as much as his less unconventional treatments of older classics.

But this CD is a stunning success both in its more traditional renditions of Ellington's songs and in those which offer something The Duke might not himself have anticipated. For me, the best of Doc's more traditional treatments -- and it is very good indeed -- is "Solitude". But on many of the other songs -- including "It Don't Man a Thing If It Ain't Got that Swing", "Don't Get Around Much Any More", and "Mood Indigo" -- Dr. John offers interpretations that are very different but distinctive and very good. I want to say that they are nothing less than remarkable.

Almost half of the songs on this CD are purely instrumental. Dr. John's piano blends well with the sounds of a spectacularly talented group of side players -- including percussionist Cyril Baptiste, who has worked in the past with the Meters and the Neville Brothers. "Perdido", "Caravan", and "Flaming Sword" are especially good. The rhythms, especially, are strikingly precise and tight. I can't help thinking that The Duke would have loved them.

Dr. John's fans will like this one. Those who appreciate Duke Ellington will, I think, recognize something very special. Dr. John has done another service to American music and deserves to be contratulated.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Pure Fonk-I-Fied", February 22, 2000

By 

"hoglips" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duke Elegant (Audio CD)

Wow! This is a fun, happy cd. Whenever I listen to it I feel a smile on my face & a glow. Dr. John has taken some of Ellington's best-known compositions & flavored them with his New Orleans spice to come up with a sublime concoction. Some of the previous reviews have better expressed the joys of this cd so I won't reiterate them. I'd just like to add that this cd is a worthy addition to the collection of any fan of jazz, blues, the Duke or Dr. John. It has been excellently recorded, the band is tight & Dr. John's piano is perfect. His voice on the non-instrumental tracks is at its' raspy best.

What I particularly enjoyed was the funkiness. Never has the Duke sounded so fun!

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars we're not worthy, February 10, 2000

By 

john cuddihy jr. (n.y.c.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duke Elegant (Audio CD)

words don't describe the joy you will feel when experiencing the amazing music here.do yourself a favor and buy this disc.this disc transcends any "jazz" or "blues" labelling. simply a timeless, uptempo slice of heaven. way to go mac. your love for the duke comes shining through.