Highlights from the Duke Ellington Centennial Edition (1927-1973) [Box set]

Duke Ellington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 4, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 4, 2000
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: RCA Victor
• ASIN: B00004S7JL
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,532 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Musical Epiphany (Or You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks!), July 31, 2001

By 

Robert W Reid (Wisconsin Dells, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highlights from the Duke Ellington Centennial Edition (1927-1973) (Audio CD)

Music was never a major element of my life. If the radio were on, it was invariably tuned to an all-news station or talk-radio that ranged from the religious to the profane. I did not own a CD player, and my archaic audio cassete player seldom contained anything but "books on tape" or one of Shakespeare's plays. So when a "literary club" that I belong to chose as its 2001 topic "My Favorite Composer," I was at a loss. Shucks! I don't even have a favorite song, let alone a favorite composer!

Fortunately, the program committee had a list of suggestions, among which loomed the name Duke Ellington. Thus, Edward Kennedy Ellington became-- for this exigency, at least-- "My Favorite Composer."

I procurred from a friend a CD player and withdrew from the local library the Complete Centennial Edition of Duke Ellington's music-- twenty-four CDs, each containing an hour or more of the most marvelous music I could ever have imagined. I listened to it all: Some of the CDs as many as three times. I had to have this music, and I had to have my own CD player. Trouble is, after buying a combination radio/CD player, there was no way I could afford the Complete Centennial Edition. So I did the next best thing: I bought the "Highlights" edition.

I have played this three-CD set in its entirety time and again. Everytime I play it, I appreciate it more and "get into it" more. That anyone could create such a myriad of original scores of such a variety is amazing. The "jungle music" of the late 1920s, when Ellington was playing at the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem, is represented by the first cut, "Black and Tan Fantasy." Akin to that genre are "Cotton Club Stomp" and "Jungle Nights in Harlem." Listening to these selections conjured up in my mind's eye nightclub scenes from movies of the 1930s.

The first CD also contains the legendary "Mood Indigo," with which even I was familiar, and two other instrumentals that I had never heard before, but have come to really enjoy: "Daybreak Express" and "Creole Rhapsody,"( Parts 1 & 2). "Daybreak Express" takes me on a ride on an old steam locomotive, the kind I remember from my youth. It's just fun to listen to. And there is the neatest love song--"My Old Flame"-- which I hum along with and even try to sing the lyrics.

The other two CDs contain additional old standards such as "Sophisticated Lady," "Take the 'A' Train," "Perdido," and "Caravan"; and, again, several wonderful instrumentals completely new to me. I especially like "Day Dream," "A Lull at Dawn," and "Passion Flower." The latter three are mellow and mellifluous--music for relaxing and, yes, daydreaming.

The plaintive "Rocks in My Bed" and the somewhat more upbeat "Just Squeeze Me" are two more vocals that I can't help but at least mouth the words to. And for something completely different, the third CD has the blare of "Blue Pepper," a selection that I find can really get me going in the morning (and that's not always easy when one is in his sixties!).It has the feel of Arabia, the hustle and bustle of the bazaar.

Since becoming familiar with the music of the Maestro, I can truly say that Duke Ellington is "My Favorite Composer" and this boxed set has been instrumental in making that happen. (The pun is intended.)