This One's for Blanton

Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ray Brown, Duke Ellington And Ray Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 30, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B000000Z03
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,629 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: ELLINGTON/BROWN
Title: THIS ONE'S FOR BLANTON
Street Release Date: 04/21/1994
Domestic
Genre: BIG BAND

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb duo outing by two geniuses, August 4, 2000

By 

Steve Frazier (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This One's for Blanton (Audio CD)

This album was created in the early 1970's when Norman Granz, the music impresario who founded the Verve label and the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series in the 50's, started a new label called Pablo. He went around recording many giants of jazz in solo, duo and small group settings. Most are products of pure joy -- great musicians getting out of their normal routines and stretching out on tunes they loved.

This is no exception. It captures Duke Ellington in a (fairly) rare duo setting, playing songs he is associated with, with the great jazz bassist Ray Brown, one of the pioneers of great jazz bass. The title -- "This One's for Blanton" -- refers to the great Jimmy Blanton, who played with the Duke Ellington orchestra in the 1940's and who was an inspiration to people like Ray Brown. Hearing Ellington and Brown together is an amazing experience, as you hear two master instrumentalists deliver the essence of songs normally associated with a full jazz orchestra. The first half of the CD is Ellington standards, beautifully delivered. The last half is a suite Ellington wrote just for this occasion (I think), a superb little creation that really gives Ray Brown a stretch out and play with all of the colors that a string bass can deliver. Don't buy this as your first Ellington CD (get the Webster/Blanton CD or The Great Paris Concert), but if you like Ellington and/or jazz bass at all you need this for a different twist on the Ellington legacy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Album By Two Major Jazz Musicians, February 27, 2005

By 

Lloyd Howard - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This One's for Blanton (Audio CD)

I have to start off by paying respects and thanks to Norman Granz who produced this and many unique recordings done at the Pablo label, which he started in 1973. Without him, this great work would probably not exist.

A major influence on Ray Brown during his youth was Jimmy Blanton; a young, inventive player who worked with Duke Ellington from 1939 until his untimely death in 1942. He is considered a liberator of the bass from a strictly rhythm role to one inclusive as a solo instrument. In the spring of 1977, Ray Brown was the chief clinician at Loyola University's annual jazz festival. It was the first time I met him and had the opportunity to talk with him. One of the things I asked was if he had ever met Blanton before his death, which he had not. Since Ray's playing had a great influence on me musically, I felt very fortunate to have the chance to meet and talk with him. Whenever he was performing within a reasonable driving distance (read up to 4-5 hours), my wife and I would go to hear him. It was always worth the effort.

This album gave Ray Brown the opportunity to work with Ellington in duo setting, just piano and bass. And he had the chance to play those tunes that Blanton had played with the "Duke" during Ray's teen years. There's some great music recorded here that's worth hearing more than once. I pretty much wore out the vinyl copy of this recording when I found a copy of it soon after its original release. Anyone who is interested should try to find copies of the other Pablo albums that Ray Brown was recorded on with people like Shelley Manne, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. There are probably reissues from Fantasy of those just as I found a reissue of this recording on CD a few years ago.

This a great album that deserves a place in the music library of anyone who loves jazz and who might also have a special affection for bass.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's for Blanton!, October 11, 2006

By 

John A. Wakefield (Sun City, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This One's for Blanton (Audio CD)

This Japanese pressing CD could be the best sounding "red book" CD I have ever heard. I think it sounds just as good as SACD or Great LP.

Perfect Music

Perfect Performance

Perfect Sound (forever)