Festival Session [Extra tracks]

Duke Ellington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 17, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0001CCY9W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,600 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

One of Duke's most consistently invigorating albums, recorded just after a highly successful run on the U.S. summer jazz festival circuit in '59. Tried-and-true tunes like Perdido and Things Ain't What They Used to Be join Copout Extension (great Gonsalves tenor work!); Launching Pad ; two unissued bonus cuts, and more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Playing For The Crowd, January 10, 2005

By 

F. Hagan (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Festival Session (Audio CD)

"Festival Session" captures the Duke Ellington Orchestra fresh from their tour on the celebrated summer jazz festival circuit in a studio recording completed just after Labor Day in 1959. The album was recorded from 8 AM in the morning until noon, brimming with the sunny expressiveness of warm weather and the day as opposed to the expected cool, evening vibe of the nightclub. The "jazz festival" brought Ellington's music and obvious composition skills to contemporary white American audiences, and the material on the original recording is regarded as one of the Duke's most cherished and exciting albums. The new release CD of "Festival Session" contains all of the expected classic showmanship and energy-and two previously unavailable tracks from this period as an added bonus for Ellington aficionados!

Album highlights include the gorgeous Juan Tizol composition "Perdido"--check out the Clark Terry fuglehorn solo on this delightful recording (as well as his handiwork in Idiom `59 Part 3). "Copout Extension" is a verifiable marathon for Paul Gonsalves' tenor sax, clocking in at 8 minutes and 17 seconds. The three part suite "Idiom Parts 1-3" gives tremendous presence to the clarinets as played by Russell Procope and Jimmy Hamilton. Dancers mining this album for diamonds will certainly enjoy "Things Ain't What They Used to be," composed by the Duke's son Mercer, and pervaded with smooth, relaxed energy. The spectacle of the summer venues and their inherent required showmanship is best exemplified by a then-new three part suite "Duael Fuel"--a showcase and battle for the drummers Sam Woodyard and Jimmy Johnson. The imagination and the future of travel are given voice by the Duke, known mainly for the trains he has immortalized, but with "Launching Pad" he reaches for outer space. Of the bonus material, "Jam with Sam" allows the trumpet player Shorty Baker to shine, and "V.I.P.'s Boogie" is a great grooving track that should find its way onto swingin' dance floors everywhere.

The great workmanship this recording exemplifies is the effortless presentation of the musicians and their various skills. Like a jazzy, swinging Peter and the Wolf, the "Festival Session" gives personality and direction to the instruments in the ensemble, and gives insight into jazz from the summer of 1959 (and beyond).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Festival or not, Duke Shines Brightly, July 30, 2008

By 

Nikica Gilic - See all my reviews

This review is from: Festival Session (Audio CD)

Whether the piece on this album was written for (then quite novel) festival circuit, or it existed in the Ellington book for years ("Perdido", "Things Ain't What They Used to Be"), this studio session of the festival repertoire gives some brilliant music. The bend is in excellent form, with Clark Terry (check out glorious "Perdido"), Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton and other jazz giants giving significant individual contributions...

The Sam Woodyard-Jimmy Johnson drum battle might not be to everyone's taste, but it's only a part of the Columbia's "Festival Session" album experience - all in all, this is not any less subtle a record just because the music was performed for festival audiences as well.

Additional pleasure of this album is the inclusion of previously unreleased bonus tracks of "V.I.P.'s Boogie" and "Jam with Sam", completing the CD quite nicely... Orchestra is in a fine form throughout, with Ellington leading the proceedings in his inimitable way, complete with shouting, laughing and name calling...

5.0 out of 5 stars Invigorating Upbeat Summer Music, March 9, 2007

By 

Original Mixed Up-Kid "jg" (New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Festival Session (Audio CD)

Recorded in late summer 1959, this excellent exciting studio (not live) CD captures the band swinging on old and new numbers with a fresh appeal that is upbeat, the type of CD that excites the fans and was able to bring in new followers to this idiom. As the liner notes say within, according to Duke this is an album whose calling is "contemporaneity and future surge".
Don't know if it is going out of print, but this fine colourful CD is an upbeat happy affair like the summer that must have preceded it's recording.The mood is bright.
This great band of about 20 plays tight and stretches out throughout..sax, trumpet,bass,drums,trombones and Duke's direction and piano adds heat throughout.
This lovely package is accompanied with 2 bonus tracks,informative liner notes,24 bit remastered and like all of Duke's Columbia remasters is a winner.