Customer Reviews

Duke Ellington - Greatest Hits [CBS Special Products]

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

 

 

Duke Ellington's work cannot possibly be summed up in one CD. Even his most important and influential work could barely make up a three CD collection. When I was beginning to get interested in Jazz, though, I wanted an album that, for a low price, would best represent what he has done for the world of jazz and music in the twentieth century.

Well, this album more then achieved that. If you could only have 10 of the Duke's songs, then these would be the ones to have. C Jam Blues, I'm Beginning to See the Light, and Perdido are something every musician and music lover should hear. I strongly recommend this album, cuz' its muy perfecto!

This is a budget-priced reissue of numbers highly associated with Duke Ellington. It's one of those cheapo-reissues: No notes, no production information, short program. At an inexpensive price, it is not bad for what it is, but know what it is before you buy.

If you buy the cassette version, note that the tape only includes the first eight songs listed in the "Track Listing" above. The cassette program excludes songs 9 and 10.

Duke Ellington's recording career spanned 50 years, yet his earliest BRUNSWICK sides, like "The Mooche," "East St Louis Toodle-oo" or "Mood Indigo," waxed between 1926 and '31, remain definitive. Of these three, only an inferior version of "Mood Indigo" is represented on this set of much later COLUMBIA tracks.

Ellington's signature piece, "Take The 'A' Train," was recorded in 1941. Even that essential tune has no representation here. Another drawback of this later-career compilation is the "girl singer" has clearly passed her prime.

Better sound fidelity alone is no substitute for the freshness and vitality of the young Duke and his band's early 78s. This CBS SPECIAL PRODUCTS collection is only for completists. For everyone else, seek out Ellington's records from his first 20 years.

Duke Ellington is the Man who got me into Jazz as a kid and I always go back and listen to him. his tone on the piano didn't sound like anybody else then or now. he had a smooth cool touch and he had a trademark groove which you knew was his own.now one disc can't hardly give the man his due, but this set does have some of his strongest works in the mix and is worth checking out for the newbie to his work.