Customer Reviews

Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins

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

 

 

It's a marvellous version of the music of the film, and it contains a few really fine numbers. Maybe you'll think it's only a recording for children, but it isn't. It's full of colours from the Ellington palette. And is recorded in one of the best periods of Ellington, you'll find some of the Ellington Dream Team.

The super-fast supercalifragi... as you can imagine, is featuring the powerful Paul Gonsalves.

Two big ballad numbers "Feed the birds" and "Perfect Nanny" for the clarinets, Procope and Hamilton.

A really nice Chim Chimeney with the trio.

Actually, this is a very nice, subtle and swinging album and, in any other book, it would merrit 5 stars, but with 4 stars I just wanted to point to the fact that more-or-less same band produced Afro-Bossa and Concert in the Virgin Islands, to name but a few of the masterpieces from the Ellington repertoire (actually, I believe these two are from the very same era)...

So, if you like Mary Poppins, orchestral swing (and similar areas of music), you should buy it.
But, if you're a primarily an Ellington fan, beware, this is not the very best...

My editions lists the soloists, which is nice,
and they are nice, although I believe Cootie Williams had sounded better before..

The Mary Poppins score is a good one, but the treatment here definitely enhances it. This is a record that deserves to be more widely known. The score shows off the various qualities of this late Ellington ensemble. Very highly recommended.