Customer Reviews

New Orleans Suite

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Another of Duke's "suites" which consists of a series of stand-alone tunes with a connecting theme, this time a tribute to the music of New Orleans. Don't expect a bunch of Dixieland knockoffs. As usual, the result is pure and original Ellington. Every song is a highlight, but I'll point out two. Portrait of Wellman Braud, a blues in 12/8 with the melody in the bass, could just as appropriately be named Portrait of Charles Mingus and shows one instance when Duke might have been inspired by Mingus (instead of the other way around). Blues for New Orleans features Johnny Hodges in his last recorded blues, trading choruses with organist Wild Bill Davis. Duke recalls that he was sitting at home, wondering how he could convince Hodges to dust off his soprano for the upcoming recording of Portrait of Sidney Bechet, when he got the phone call that the Hodges had died.

The New Orleans Suite:
1970 was an exceptionally busy year for Duke Ellington. In January he toured the Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. In April he premiered the New Orleans Suite in New Orleans. April 27, 1970 he records five of the songs, Johnny Hodges died on May 11, 1970, The portraits were recorded on May 13, 1970, Ellington began recording "The River" on May 25, 1970. On May 28, 1970 Ellington records with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. On June 3, 1970 he records more for the River, recording continues on June 8, 1970, and June 15, 1970. (See Private Collection Volume 5 for the River recordings.) The Ballet premiered on June 25, 1970. At the end of June he began a tour of Europe which lasts until the middle of August. On
September 18, 1970 Ellington premiered the Afro Eurasian Eclipse at Monterey. And so on.

As stated above, The New Orleans Suite was recorded at two separate sessions. Blues for New Orleans, Bourbon
Street Jingling Jollies, Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta, Second Line, Aristocracy a la Jean LaFitte were recorded on April 27, 1970. It was Johnny Hodges last recording session. Cat Anderson was not at that recording session. Fred Stone and Al Rubin replaced him. On May 13, 1970 Cat Anderson returned and Money Johnson and Al Rubin departed.

Though I like all the songs, the Portraits are the ones I find most interesting. The Portraits have a conection with New Orleans and with Duke Ellington. " Portrait of Louis Armstrong" has Cootie Williams's gorgeous open horn tribute to his idol. It is one of Williams last great features.
It's a great piece. Ellington and Armstrong recorded together in 1961.
Wellman Braud was Ellington's bass player from 1926 until 1935. This portrait has Harry Carney on bass clarinet and Joe Benjamin on bass mimic Braud's bass playing style.
Portrait of Mahalia Jackson is Ellington's second recorded portrait of the singer. The first "Mahalia" was included in the Girls' Suite (1961). That piece is copyrighted by Ellington, but van de Leur says it's probably by Strayhorn. Norris Turney's flute is what I remember most about this portrait. Mahalia Jackson and Ellington recorded together in 1958.
The Portrait of Sidney Bechet was planned as a feature for Johnny Hodges on soprano saxophone. (His first such feature since the early 1940's.) But as Hodges had died two days
before it was given to Paul Gonsalves. Sidney Bechet was in Ellington's band for a few weeks in the 1920's.

NEW ORLEANS SUITE is one of Duke's last recordings, and Johnny Hodges' very last. These guys were pushing 70 when they recorded this stuff. Amazing. The opening track, BLUES FOR NEW ORLEANS, absolutely smokes, driven by Hodges' horn and Wild Bill Davis' organ. The next track, BOURBON STREET JINGLING JOLLIES, captures Bourbon Street at 6 am, rather than midnight. Tributes to Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Mahalia Jackson are rollicking, dignified and joyful, respectively.
Duke Ellington's music is a national treasure and with NEW ORLEANS SUITE, he saved the best for last.

This review is an excerpt from my "So You'd Like To..." guide called, "Explore the Music of Duke Ellington: Part I."

One of Duke Ellington's last worthy suites, The New Orleans Suite is full of earthy, down-home, and festivous sound you would expect about the place where many roots of jazz and blues trace. The suite comprises five movements and four "portraits" of New Orleans artists whom Duke Ellington deeply respected. The opening movement is "Blues for New Orleans." Its heavy, wailing solo by Johnny Hodges became one of the last recordings of the inimitable saxophone player before his death. Like "Tourist Point of View" on The Far East Suite, "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies" captures its themes exquisitely. As Duke Ellington put it, "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies" is "a rhythmic tone parallel to the excruciating ecstasies one finds oneself suspended in when one is in the throes of the jingling rhythmic jollies of Bourbon Street." The movement depicts Bourbon Street in the wee hours of the morning. The sun is barely up and the street is strikingly quiet and gray in comparison to the night's now burnt excitement. The sole soloist, Norris Turney, persists on his flute as this man who had lived the night on Bourbon Street. In the mind of this man Turney portrays, the night is still fresh, and the street is still burning hot. Possessed by the memories, as firm and steady as Rufus Jones' drumming, you can hear the heights of ecstasy that grip this man as Turney and the orchestra soar harmoniously to a place of exuberance. The experience of hearing "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies" is raw and poignant.

This is not your usual Ellington LP. It is more like a concerto with 9 movements, from 3 to near 8 minutes each. Ellington attempts to give a musical potrait of New Orleans , the atmosphere, the traditons, and the music.... especially the music. Starting with "Blues for New Orleans"he goes to "Bourbon Street" and from there to "Portrait of Louis Armstrong", and then on to "Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta"
gives a "Tribute to the Second Line", "Portrait of Sidney Bechet"and others for a total of nine.It is very listenable music, but is diffent from what people expect from Ellington, and so has never been given the popularity it deserves. Music like this is not going to be played on disk jockey radio shows with their three minute tunes between commercials.If you like Jazz in general and have a reverence for the history of Jazz you will likely enjoy this LP.

okay, we all know that "the blanton-webster years" is indespensible, as is the 1943 "carnegie hall concerts," "black, brown and beige," and "ellington at newport." so much great ellington out there in his colossal discography. all i want to say here is don't let the "new orleans suite," slip by you. it's easy to overlook, but should not be. it's a wonderfully enjoyable recording that all ellington fans should have. no more need be said.

After a trio of stunning album-length suites inspired by his band's world travels - the Far East Suite, the Afro-Eurasian Eclipse and the Latin American Suite - Ellington returns closer to home for the New Orleans Suite. The results don't soar quite as high, particularly with the tossed-off quality of the opening blues, which is dominated not by Duke but by the organ of Wild Bill Davis. But the closing track, Duke's "Portrait of Mahalia Jackson", is one of the most haunting and singularly beautiful things Ellington ever recorded. It's like he's there floating with the spirit of Mahalia above some church somewhere in the dark Louisiana night. Soon the Duke would take his place alongside the musical angels, but he left this heavenly message to transport you, too.

This is very late Ellington (recorded in 1970), but many of his long-time band members, including Russell Procope, Cat Anderson, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Paul Gonsalves and Harry Carney played on some or all of the album.

The album holds up very well. The compositions are very good to excellent. In fact, Stefon Harris used three of them in his recent album, "African Tarantalla" to very good effect. As usual with the Duke, his compositions are very harmonically interesting, evoke various moods, and are grist for improvisation.

Highlights for me include Blues for New Orleans (interesting because it included Wild Bill Davis on organ), Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies, a very pretty piece, the Portrait of Wellman Braud, Second Line, and the Portrait of Sidney Bichet.

The amazing thing about the Duke and his men is that after over 40 years in the business, they are energetic, creative and play great jazz. As always, the band swings. Duke was a one-of-a-kind, the greatest composer in jazz. This album is further evidence of his compositional genius. This album is well worth purchasing.

Since taking up jazz, I've always been an Ellington fan. I like the straight ahead approach, the classic sound of his tunes and band, his timeless takes of other composer's work. One would think I probably started with a Duke Ellington best of, but actually, this was the first Ellington work I owned and it's what led me to all of this other work. This CD has just a tremendous depth of style. It's slower and more subdued than the big band work he is most famous for, and sitting and listening to it, you are able to relax and be absorbed by the music. The "portraits" are particularly interesting if you are familiar with who they refer to. I had a kind of "advantage" because I was not familiar with them, and I was insightful (lucky?) enough to listen to the CD a few times before I bothered to look at the track titles and find out about the people mentioned. That was a significant factor in my enjoyment of this CD, but I think any fan of jazz, casual or otherwise, will treasure this CD as a valuable piece of their music collection for many, many years.

It was there from the very beginning--the Cotton Club orchestra with Miley and Nanton through the 40's orchestra with Blanton and Webster through the 50's aggregation with Hodges and Gonsalves to the final days with Carney and Procope still with him. Many younger musicians (and some educators) who "got" Basie, Maynard, Rich, Kenton and Woody during the "school days" revival of the big bands in the '70s dismissed Duke's band as being insufficiently disciplined and tight. But those who mattered--Mingus and Coltrane, for example--understood that Ellington's bands had a direct connection to the source, to Congo Square and the spirit of collective creativity celebrating the birth of a glorious new thing at the turn of the century.

After hearing the music of New Orleans, especially before the noise generated by the dispiriting monster, the Super Dome, muted much of it, I understood the significance of Duke Ellington. The pulse of the music was human and shared, not a well-oiled mechanism; the spirit was celebratory, speaking to the strengths of a democratic community but also of each individual's contributions to its life; the personality of the band emanated equally from the leader, each soloist, each section, and of course the band as a whole. The band was at once a human organism and a flowing stream--you could drink from its mouth if you chose or follow it all the way back to the vital source.

The music of New Orleans and the music of Duke Ellington. Less a complementary pairing than synonymous, interchangeable parts. At least before the Super Dome.