Ellington At Newport 1956

Artist: Duke Ellington
Label: Sony
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2

UPC: 074646493229
EAN: 0074646493229
ASIN: B00000IMYA

Release Date: 1999-05-11

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| Jazz | Styles | Music

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Tracks:

Star Spangled Banner
Father Norman O'Connor Introduces Duke & The Orchestra/Duke Introduces Tune & Anderson, Jackson...
Black And Tan Fantasy
Duke Introduces Cook & Tune
Tea For Two
Duke & Band Leave Stage/Father Norman O'Connor Talks About The Festival
Take The A Train
Duke Announces Strayhorn's A Train & Nance/Duke Introduces Festival Suite, Part I & Hamilton
Festival Suite: Part I - Festival Junction (Live)
Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II (Live)
Festival Suite: Part II - Blues To Be There (Live)
Duke Announces Nance & Procope; Introduces Part III (Live)
Festival Suite: Part III - Newport Up
Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves, & Terry/Duke Introduces Carney & Tune (Live)
Sophisticated Lady (Live)
Duke Announces Grissom & Tune (Live)
Day In, Day Out (Live)
Duke Introduces Tune(s) And Paul Gonsalves Interludes (Live)
Diminuendo In Blues And Crescendo In Blue (Live)
Announcements, Pandemonium (Live)
Pause Track

Tracks:

Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Live)
Jeep's Blues (Live)
Duke Calms Crowd; Introduces Nance & Tune
Tulip Or Turnip
Riot Prevention
Skin Deep
Mood Indigo
Studio Concert (Excerpts)
Father Norman O'Connor Introduces Duke Ellington/Duke Introduces New Work, Part I, & Hamilton
Festival Suite: Part I - Festival Junction
Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II (Production)
Festival Suite: Part II - Blues To Be There
Duke Announes Nance & Procope; Introduces Part III (Production)
Festival Suite: Part III - Newport Up (Production)
Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves, & Terry/Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges (Production)
I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) (Production)
Jeep's Blues (Studio)
Pause Track

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Customer Reviews:

Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue.......2007-01-28

Specially, I like the long solo of Bud Gonsalves. It's really swings.

Gonsalves Flirts With Woman in Audience.......2006-05-07

There is so much wonderful writing on this release already, so I will make it quick. On Ken Burns History of Jazz, George Wein talks about this marvelous concert. He said that a very attractive blonde woman was dancing in an isle to Diminuendo in Blue/Crescendo in Blue. Gonsalves was "playing to this woman" and it caused quite a stir in the audience. Ellington then spurred Gonsalves to continue on and on. A great historical anecdote that makes the recording even more special. The fact that this performance is reputed to have rekindled Ellington's career makes it all seem more fun!

A legendary performance burnished.......2006-04-01

In the reviews that I read (not all), I did not see a mention of what an excellent job Columbia did in the remastering. I owned the LP when it was first issued and it has been a lifelong favorite; so it was a very pleasant surprise to hear how much the sound was improved on this release. (The whole series of recent Columbia remasterings is excellent.)

A legendary performance? Oh yeahhh, the missing Voice of America tape, Philly Jo Jones driving the band (apocryphally) with a rolled up newspaper, and the Dancing Blonde In The Black Dress who got the crowd on their feet and roaring during the Gonsalves solo. The Time cover, and the renaissance of the band. And a performance that easily supports the weight of the legends...

The format of this release, complete and with the studio recordings appended, is very interesting; it corrects and completes the historical record. It's good to hear the studio recordings, now seeming oversmooth and plump, in comparison to the real thing.

I consider it an essential recording.

Ellington at his best (and that's saying something)........2005-08-04

In 1956, Duke Ellington's career had taken a downturn. Swing was very old music, no longer well accepted, and many relics of the big band era had already disappeared. Ellington maintained his orchestra, but with several key members of the band coming and going and gigs getting leaner, things were not looking good for the future.

It was into this environment that Ellington arrived at the Newport Jazz Festival that July, and the performance is the stuff of legend. Ellington's set was reasonably well received, then during the bridge linking "Diminuendo in Blue" to "Crescendo in Blue", Paul Gonsalves stood up for his tenor solo. Gonsalves, younger than the majority of Ellington's musicians and influenced by bebop players, began blowing fiercely, a powerful, evocative, non-linear solo that grabbed everyone's attention and made heads turn. Realizing he had something going on, Ellington signalled Gonsalves to keep playing, chorus after chorus, as the crowd became more and more consumed by the music. When the piece was finally done (a nearly fourteen minute performance, the majority of which consumed by Gonsalves' solo, unheard of in swing music), the crowd was positively frenzied and Ellington came out for several encores designed to calm them down.

On the strength of this performance and a cover appearance in Time Magazine, Ellington was suddenly a hot commodity, signed a deal with Columbia, and "Ellington at Newport" became his biggest selling record of all time.

So is Paul Gonsalves' solo really that good? Well, yes, it is. He plays magnificantly, and while it's clear he's starting to run out of steam when Duke finally lets him go, the truth is that this is what makes Ellington so powerful-- he can bring forth performances from musicians that can whip a crowd into a frenzy. Truth is, there's powerful solos from any number of musicians, and I suspect had Ellington seen a crowd reaction when any of them were playing, he could have gotten the same reaction, be it Quentin Jackson's growling ("Black and Tan Fantasy"), Willie Cook (stunningly melodic and inventive on "Tea for Two"), the leader himself at the piano ("Take the A Train"), Cat Anderson's pyrotechnics ("Festival Junction") or Johnny Hodges' lyricism ("Jeep's Blues"). The crowd IS practically frenzied after Anderson takes off to the stratosphere at the end of "Festival Junction". And I don't mean this to take away from Gonsalves-- his solo really is something to behold, but it's Ellington's arrangements and inspiration that's the star here.

So what is this set? It's a chance to see a master bandleader at the top of his form, playing his orchestra as an instrument, and inspiring them to in turn inspire him.

This reissue is particularly exciting as it is the first to include the original sessions-- evidentally the tape was damaged and couldn't be salvaged in the '50s and parts of the performance were a bit less than perfect, so parts of the show were re-recorded, complete with artificial crowd noise and announcements (in many cases, the rerecordings are far superior to the less than perfect live performances, as one would suspect, but they lose some of the immediacy). This release includes the original concert from a newly found tape and some of the studio sessions augmenting it as bonus material. The sound is letter-perfect throughout-- this could have been recorded yesterday at a jazz festival and you'd scarcely hear the difference. The set also includes extensive liner notes, including the original notes included with the set and new essays and session details.

In the end, this is one of the essential jazz recordings, certainly it's a fantastic introduction to Ellington's material and work, and it's among the best of his recordings. Highly recommended.

Duke and his men play to a "ugh" crowd, something happens.......2005-05-08

Newport Jazz Festival, 1956, a bunch of rich white folks, being in style go to a jazz festival. They obviously were very timid and unaware of Duke Ellington and his men, and they give some soft golf claps in the beginning while the announcer is announcing Duke and his men. The band then goes on to perform, a very dark and chilling version of "Black and Tan Fantasy" with Cat Anderson, Quinten Jackson, and Russel Procope giving great performances. Next follows a passive but nice version of "Tea for Two" played by Willie Cook in a Clifford Brown tone. Then the band goes on break for quite some time due the fact that key members are missing and have not showed up yet. Then we go on to Billy Stayhorn's "Take The A Train", then the first main course, "The Newport Jazz Festival Suite". This was not completly finished by Ellington/Strayhorn as it was played this night. And it is played with passion, even if it is not perfect. Some great soloist strutt thier stuff- Jimmy Hamilton, Clark Terry, Ray Nance, ect. Then the great baritone player, Harry Carney (who was with duke since the 20's) plays an decent rendition (He usually played this better) of "Sophistcated Lady", then a terrible vocal take by Josh Grisham on "Day In, Day Out". Next in the second main course, "Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue", every that needs to be said about this has already been said. Then this crowd, this stiff and boring crowd get going. Screaming for more, Duke gives them his all time great soloist, Johnny Hodges. He plays beautifully on "I Got It Bad" and "Jeep's Blues". The crowd is still getting more and more crazy, and after "Tulip and Turnip", Sam Woodyard solos on "Skip Deep" and bring them to the edge again. They end with a few bars of "Mood Indigo" with the crowd screaming for more. I understand that a near-riot seems like nothing in Rock - n Roll terms today. But these people aren't drunk and pointlessly unruly like rock fans (I been to concert were people are moshing and a band is still setting up, which proves that this Rock-n-Roll energy ain't nothing), these people were takin away by this music. As much as they wanted to be boring and hardly cheer, they couldn't help and had to scream. For one night, improvised music was appreciated

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