The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946) [Box set]

The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946) [Box set]

The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946) [Box set]

ASIN: B00004S7JJ

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This three-CD set is a portion of the extraordinary 24-CD set issued by RCA in 1999 as The Centennial Edition: The Complete Duke Ellington RCA Victor Recordings and it benefits from the tremendous archival and restoration work involved in that project. It's a full 210 minutes of music recorded in a period of just 20 months between December 1944 and September 1946, an in-depth portrait of a musical giant immediately following a two-year hiatus from commercial recording due to the musicians' union ban. Since last recording, the orchestra had made its Carnegie Hall debut, performing "Black, Brown, & Beige," Ellington's most ambitious work. Further, his collaboration with orchestrator Billy Strayhorn, begun in 1940, had continued to develop. Ellington had been building a repertoire and an orchestra since the 1920s, and he was answerable to both the demands of popular fashion and his own creative muse. In fact, they were inextricably combined. He required popular success to maintain the orchestra that was the instrument of his most ambitious compositions, and that duality is apparent here.

The set begins with "I'm Beginning to See the Light," one of Ellington's most popular songs and one he'd been anxious to record, and it also includes the recorded portions of the multipart "Black, Brown & Beige" and "The Perfume Suite." There are new versions of older masterpieces like "Solitude," as well as a series of W.C. Handy songs. It was a period when the Ellington band had a full complement of singers, including Al Hibbler, Joya Sherill, and Kay Davis, both for Duke's own songs (an almost choral version of "It Don't Mean a Thing") and popular fare like "My Heart Sings." Among the intriguing diversions are two one-piano duets with Strayhorn and a cross-town exchange program that found Ellington and Tommy Dorsey appearing as guest soloists with each other's bands on the same day. Throughout, the band is magnificent, with brilliant section work and a host of stunning soloists. Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, and "Tricky Sam" Nanton had been associates since the '20s, while trumpeters Taft Jordan and Cat Anderson, clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, and tenor saxophonist Al Sears had been added to the band since they last recorded. It's an engrossing experience for anyone fascinated with Ellington's music and a remarkable window on a brief period in his great career. --Stuart Broomer

The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946),Duke Ellington,RCA,Big Band,Classic Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Orchestral Jazz,Pop,Progressive Big Band,Swing
The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946)
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A great set from jazz's greatest composer.
 The Complete RCA-Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1946)
Duke Ellington
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big BandClassic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big BandContemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Orchestral JazzOrchestral Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Big BandBig Band | Jazz | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Complete RCA Victor Recordings
  2. Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band

ASIN: B00004S7JJ
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Tracks:

  1. I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
  2. I'm Beginning To See The Light (Take 1)
  3. I'm Beginning To See The Light (Take 2)
  4. Don't You Know I Care (Take 1)
  5. Don't You Know I Care (Take 2)
  6. I Didn't Know About You
  7. Work Song
  8. Come Sunday
  9. The Blues
  10. Three Dances
  11. Carnegie Blues
  12. Blue Cellophane
  13. Mood To Be Wooed
  14. (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings
  15. Kissing Bug
  16. Everything But You
  17. (Otto Make That) Riff Staccato
  18. Prelude To A Kiss
  19. Caravan
  20. Black And Tan Fantasy
  21. Mood Indigo
  22. In A Sentimental Mood

Tracks:

  1. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
  2. Sophisticated Lady
  3. Tonight I Shall Sleep (With A Smile On My Face)
  4. The Minor Goes Muggin'
  5. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Take 1)
  6. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart (Take 2)
  7. Solitude
  8. Frankie And Johnny
  9. Jumpin' Room Only
  10. Black Beauty
  11. Every Hour On The Hour
  12. Balcony Serenade
  13. Strange Feeling
  14. Dancers In Love
  15. Coloratura (Take 2)
  16. Coloratura (Take 1)
  17. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
  18. Tell Ya What I'm Gonna Do
  19. Come To Baby, Do!
  20. I'm Just A Lucky So And So
  21. Long, Strong And Consecutive
  22. The Wonder Of You
  23. Tonk
  24. Drawing Room Blues

Tracks:

  1. Rockabye River
  2. Suddenly It Jumped
  3. Transblucency
  4. Just Squeeze Me
  5. A Gathering In A Clearing
  6. You Don't Love Me No More
  7. Pretty Woman
  8. Hey, Baby
  9. (Back Home Again In) Indiana
  10. Blue Is The Night
  11. Lover Man (Take 1)
  12. Lover Man (Take 2)
  13. Just You, Just Me
  14. Beale Street Blues
  15. Memphis Blues
  16. St. Louis Blues
  17. My Honey's Lovin' Arms
  18. (I Don't Stand) A Ghost Of A Chance (With You)
  19. Swamp Fire
  20. Royal Garden Blues
  21. Esquire Swank
  22. Midriff

Amazon.com

This three-CD set is a portion of the extraordinary 24-CD set issued by RCA in 1999 as The Centennial Edition: The Complete Duke Ellington RCA Victor Recordings and it benefits from the tremendous archival and restoration work involved in that project. It's a full 210 minutes of music recorded in a period of just 20 months between December 1944 and September 1946, an in-depth portrait of a musical giant immediately following a two-year hiatus from commercial recording due to the musicians' union ban. Since last recording, the orchestra had made its Carnegie Hall debut, performing "Black, Brown, & Beige," Ellington's most ambitious work. Further, his collaboration with orchestrator Billy Strayhorn, begun in 1940, had continued to develop. Ellington had been building a repertoire and an orchestra since the 1920s, and he was answerable to both the demands of popular fashion and his own creative muse. In fact, they were inextricably combined. He required popular success to maintain the orchestra that was the instrument of his most ambitious compositions, and that duality is apparent here.

The set begins with "I'm Beginning to See the Light," one of Ellington's most popular songs and one he'd been anxious to record, and it also includes the recorded portions of the multipart "Black, Brown & Beige" and "The Perfume Suite." There are new versions of older masterpieces like "Solitude," as well as a series of W.C. Handy songs. It was a period when the Ellington band had a full complement of singers, including Al Hibbler, Joya Sherill, and Kay Davis, both for Duke's own songs (an almost choral version of "It Don't Mean a Thing") and popular fare like "My Heart Sings." Among the intriguing diversions are two one-piano duets with Strayhorn and a cross-town exchange program that found Ellington and Tommy Dorsey appearing as guest soloists with each other's bands on the same day. Throughout, the band is magnificent, with brilliant section work and a host of stunning soloists. Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, and "Tricky Sam" Nanton had been associates since the '20s, while trumpeters Taft Jordan and Cat Anderson, clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton, and tenor saxophonist Al Sears had been added to the band since they last recorded. It's an engrossing experience for anyone fascinated with Ellington's music and a remarkable window on a brief period in his great career. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A great set from jazz's greatest composer........2000-12-22

Not only is he jazz's greatest composer, but Ellington was possibly the greatest of all 20th century composers, rivaling even such legends as Aaron Copland and George Gershwin.

This collection replaces 1988's "Black, Brown, & Beige," a similar 3CD set of his recorded RCA Victor work between 1944 and 1946. Unlike that earlier set, this set compiles everything Ellington recorded in those years for RCA Victor, including a pair of trios and another pair of piano duets with his brilliant collaborator, Billy Strayhorn. Most importantly, this 3CD set has brilliant sound that is astoundingly better than the "Black, Brown, & Beige" set. Rather than using heavy, NoNoise processing, this set uses noise reduction sparingly and tastefully, and most importantly they went to great lengths securing only the finest sources for this set. That means they don't shortchange us with analogue copies of old 78's, a practice BMG/RCA has been notorious for on past box sets.

Of course, the most important thing about this set is the music. It's not at the level of Ellington's early 40's recordings (but then again, few bodies of work can equal those recordings in terms of sustained quality, brilliance, and influence). These years were some of Ellington's toughest in light of constant personnel changes, like the unfortunate departure of Ben Webster and the tragic death of Jimmy Blanton. Nevertheless, this is still an essential Ellington set, collecting some marvelous recordings like "I'm Beginning To See The Light," "Caravan," and most importantly a great studio recording (albeit in truncated form) of his underappreciated masterwork, "Black, Brown & Beige."

There's also ten reinterpretations of Ellington classics here, all of which shed new light on each work. Any Ellington fan who hasn't the money to pick up the giant 24 CD "Centennial" box set should pick this up.
The Best of the Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings
Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Not real best of.
  • Disappointing selection
 The Best of the Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings
Duke Ellington
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big BandClassic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big BandContemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
CDs $7 - $10CDs $7 - $10 | Jazz General | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
CDs $7 - $10CDs $7 - $10 | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
All Bargain TitlesAll Bargain Titles | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music
4-for-3 Jazz4-for-3 Jazz | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
4-for-3 Pop4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
4-for-3 All Music4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. The Original Quartet With Chet Baker [2-CD SET]

ASIN: B00004S7JK
Release Date: 2000-04-04

Tracks:

  1. I'm Beginning To See The Light
  2. Don't You Know I Care
  3. Come Sunday
  4. The Blues
  5. Prelude To A Kiss
  6. Caravan
  7. In A Sentimental Mood
  8. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
  9. Sophisticated Lady
  10. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
  11. Solitude
  12. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
  13. I'm Just A Lucky So-And-So
  14. Tonk
  15. Transblucency
  16. Just Squeeze Me
  17. St. Louis Blues
  18. Esquire Swank

Amazon.com

The 24-CD set of Ellington's RCA recordings released in 1999, The Centennial Edition: The Complete Duke Ellington RCA Victor Recordings, was a monumental project, not only the ultimate celebration of the anniversary but also a summit in jazz research and the art of the reissue. The benefits of that project's immense labor--both in sound restoration and research--are now appearing in more modest, and far more affordable, forms. This single disc is drawn from the Ellington's three-CD The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings. It contains both revisions of earlier classics like "Solitude" and "Caravan" and then-new songs like "I'm Beginning to See the Light," one of Ellington's most popular songs and a hit for Harry James as well. Also included is "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" by Duke's son Mercer. The reverent "Come Sunday," one of Duke's most beautiful melodies, appears in its first recorded form, while "Tonk" is a spirited piano duet with Billy Strayhorn, his composition partner. Throughout, the band is simply magnificent, with veterans like Johnny Hodges and Lawrence Brown and newcomers Cat Anderson and tenor saxophonist Al Sears among the soloists lending their distinctive voices to Ellington's extraordinary musical conception. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Not real best of........2005-03-16

Don't buy this Cd. Complete RCA - Victor Mid - forties recordings (1944 -1946) is better way.
Where are songs like Midriff or Work Song?
In my opinion this is not real best of. There are better songs on Complete Mid - forties 3cd box.

3 out of 5 stars Disappointing selection.......2000-12-22

This disc was taken from the 3CD set, "The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings," which was taken from the larger 24CD box set, "Centennial: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings." Thus, it has the same great remastered sound, utilizing the absolute best sources (this time around, they spent the time, money, and effort to secure top-notch sources) as well as state-of-the-art transfer technology and some very sparse noise reduction.

However, this disc is a major disappointment in terms of selection. Ellington's mid-forties recordings were very, very good, often great, but it was inconsistent enough to merit a single disc distillation, one that could've been very impressive had it taken the absolute best material of this period. Unfortunately, this disc fails on that level, selecting some weak recordings (such as a "Solitude," one of ten reinterpretations Ellington recorded in this period, and the only major disappointment of all ten) and omitting essential ones (only two of four selections from "Black, Brown & Beige" are included, a terrible omission indeed since those four studio recordings are the most desirable tracks from this period).

It's also strange how such tracks as "Frankie & Johnny," "Dancers In Love," "Midriff," and "Black Beauty," all great tracks, would be heaped with so much praise in the liner notes to "The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings," yet they're not included here. Space wouldn't be the issue, as there's certainly enough room left for at least four more tracks. Besides, why include such uninspired work as "Don't You Know I Care" when you have something like "Work Song" available?

I would recommend this for people on a severe budget; in the age of CD recording, this need to buy this disc is minimal. If you're a huge fan of Ellington, pick up either of the larger sets, depending on your budget. You'll be much more satisfied.

Jazz Music:

  1. The Gospel Truth
  2. The Unquiet
  3. This Here: 1955-1959
  4. To Bags with Love: A Tribute to Milt Jackson
  5. Tribute to Kiss: Kissin' Time [Import]
  6. Unicorn [Import]
  7. View From the Side [Live] [Original recording remastered]
  8. Visions of An Intermounting Apocalypse [Import]
  9. When You Wish Upon a Star Live 1940-1942 [Live]
  10. Who Will Find Me, Who Will Care?

Jazz Music

Jazz Music