Customer Reviews

Duke Elegant

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"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.

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!

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.

This CD absolutely shines! The Doc's arrangements and personal stylings on "Don't Get Around Much," "Mood Indigo," "Perdido," and "Satin Doll," and "Solitude" are fabulous - he brings his own kind of elegance to the Duke's masterpieces and makes them his own. I am a huge fan of Dr. John's but I don't think you need to be to take great pleasure in listening to this awesome CD. It's essential to your collection: perfect for dinner parties, dates, and just groovin' around the house.

The Doctor's take on the Ellington songbook is as unexpected as it is inspired. Dr. John puts his unique stamp on old favorites like "It Don't Mean a Thing" and "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me," while rarities "Wrong Side of the Railroad Tracks" and "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" manage to sound completely new in his "Pure Fonk-i-Fied" versions. His take on "Mood Indigo" has become my personal favorite version of this well-worn classic, with his trademark piano beautifully underscoring the melody, and his rollicking version of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" is both fresh and very funny. I have only two quibbles with this album. First, most of the selections are a bit over-long: most are over 5 and several over 6 minutes long. This gives the album a pace that is a bit too leisurely for its own good. Second, the latter half of the album is given over to instrumentals: while the musicianship is top-notch as always, these should have been interspersed instead of placed all at the end (but that's why they invented CD shuffle-play). There is also a rare lapse into cheese with a lame version of "Perdido." However, most of this album works gorgeously and will please fans of both THE DOC and THE DUKE.

Being a fan of the "Afterglow" Dr. John more so than the "cajun swamp master" one, I have to give this cd five gold stars. Yes, there are several Duke tribute cd's available on the store shelves but you can't be without this one. The Dr. puts on a performance that is in my opinion, perhaps his best ever. Try it you'll like it.

At the outset let me say that after a while I get really put off by the number of 5 star reviews I see on these pages......so many records cant be all that good.....play it a few times or put down the joint and listen a few days later before plunging onto the review pages.All of which to me means that 3 stars is pretty good which is what this cd is...to me. This is the year of everybody does Duke Ellington,which isnt bad cuz his stuff is so good but you do need to have something to add.Too many tribute records or so and so does the standards would have been better left undone(Bryan Ferry's latest comes to mind as one that should never have happened...what got added there?),but Dr. John has something to add.....and its his groove.This is a nice few degrees off centre and its just what Dr John does so well....so lay back and let him let you see the Duke as a New Orleans swamp musician.....well done to the Doctor,just the right prescription.

Without so much as seeing a track listing for the album, the very idea of Dr. John releasing an album on Blue Note sent chills of anticipation up and down my spine. The concept of the King of New Orleans piano paying tribute to one of the all-time greatest modern pianists gave me another little shiver. For fans of either Sir Duke or The Doc, this album does not disappoint in the least. Mac Rebennack's self-produced latest effort manages to be faithful to Ellington's originals, while at the same time offering long-time fans the funky guitar licks and bass lines that have become synonymous with the name Dr. John. Furthermore, his mastery of the Hammond B-3 (that funkiest of keyboards) has never been more in evidence than it is on this release; the organ break in "It Don't Mean A Thing" and opening bars of "Thing's Ain't What They Used To Be" [sic] are among the album's brightest of highlights. His piano work, too, is a worthy and elegant tribute to Duke Ellington. My only suggestion would be a bit more accent on the virtuoso aspects of the playing. Dr. John has a wonderfully evocative voice (think a melodious Johnny Most on karaoke night), but we've been far too long between instrumental albums. Among my favorite Dr. John releases is Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack, on which he performs his own compositions unaccompanied on piano with (almost) no vocal cuts. When I first got news of this album, I had hoped for a similar approach. Which is not to say that I'm unhappy with the album; voxless tracks such as "Perdido" and the aforementioned ""Thing's Ain't What They Used To Be" are marvelous showcases for his talent. They also underscore the superfluousness of the vocals on the majority of the other tracks. But they will serve as a more than ample stop-gap until the next instrumental Dr. John record. Nonetheless, this is, first and foremost, a Dr. John release and long-standing fans know what to expect and will enjoy it immensely. It is, secondly, a Blue Note release and the label's consistent commitment to catalogue excellence does not waiver a bit here. Finally, it is a very worthy tribute to the magnificent and much-missed Duke Ellington. Edward K. would be proud.

The Doctor comes through with an astonishingly original and delectably funkalicious tribute to one of the greatest black artists of all time. After his disappointing ANUTHA ZONE album (title track and 'Sweet Home N'Orlins' excluded) the doctor returns to his dirtiest and grooviest on an album that restores my faith in the man's legendary status. The standout tracks, in my humble O, are the opening track - one of the best songs i have ever heard -, Perdido, Solitude, and the awesomely sexy Flaming Sword, which is the closest thing I have heard to the great 'Fess since he shuffled off the mortal coil. if you don't buy this album, you will regret it. It's as simple as that.

If you want an album of old standards sung sweetly then this is not for you. This disc "funkified" the the keyboard sounds of the "Duke" as only the "Doctor" can do it ! The group really hits the groove on "Caravan" and "Flaming Sword". I think the "Duke" would have really dug what da "Doctor"has given us.