Things Ain't What They Used to Be [Original recording remastered, Import]

Rex Stewart, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Bmg
• ASIN: B0000549QA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,328,905 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Things Ain't What They Used To Be

2. Day Dream

3. Good Queen Bess (Take 1)

4. Good Queen Bess (Take 2)

5. That's The Blues, Old Man

6. Junior Hop (Take 1)

7. Junior Hop (Take 2)

8. Squaty Roo

9. Passion Flower

10. Goin Out The Back Way

11. Jump, That's All

12. Last Legs Blues - Part 1

13. Last Legs Blues - Part 2

14. Nix It, Mix It

15. Time On My Hands

16. Run About

17. Wishing And Waiting

18. Gat That Geet

19. That's Grand

20. Skip It

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ellington small combos, November 7, 2006

By 

COMPUTERJAZZMAN "computerjazzman" (Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Audio CD)

This CD features Duke Ellington small combos, fronted respectively by Johnny Hodges and Rex Stewart, recorded in 1940 and 1941. Great selections, pretty good recordings, and an interesting contrast to the big band sound Duke Ellington's orchestras were famous for. Also featuring Ray Nance, Harry Carney, Sonny Greer and others.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things ARE What They Used To Be, November 13, 2009

By 

Dexter Jeffries (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Audio CD)

These small Ellington sessions produced special recordings because they offered those individual geniuses timely opportunities to shine. Rex Stewart was always just that, a congenial and intelligent musician who was a political and social being. His cornet playing exhibited his fidelity to an instrument that his hero Louis Armstrong had abandoned after the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions in the late 1920's. Stewart relished this instrument and diligently developed his unique sound on the cornet with his famous half-valving technique. No other musician ever replicated his "talking" cornet.

In addition to Stewart on these small group recordings, Ben Webster explored a rich sound on the tenor sax that placed him between Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, a nice niche for sure. Raw and always tender in the high register, he is soothing and biting.
Finally, Johnny Hodges, the master of the swing alto sax, is a delight. Effortlessly playing ballads as well as jazz "dance-hop" pieces, his velvet sound is comforting.
This album is proof why Things Ain't What They Used To Be.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars THINGS AIN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE, September 20, 2008

By 

A. J. SCHAFFER "DIGITAL AUDIO SOUNDS" (ATLANTIC BEACH, FL. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (Audio CD)

SINCE THESE RECORDINGS DATE BACK TO 1940 AND 1941 , I GUESS A PERSON SHOULD NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM SUCH VINTAGE RECORDINGS.EVEN WITH SOME RECORDING STATIC , THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC IS ACCEPTABLE. I AM JUST SPOILED WITH TODAY'S RECORDING TECHNOLOGY.