Plays Ellington Songs

Plays Ellington Songs

by Harry Allen
Plays Ellington Songs

Plays Ellington Songs

by Harry Allen

CD

$19.99 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Allen's tenor sax sound is perfectly suited for the music of Duke Ellington. His literate, traditional approach and occasionally Stan Getz-ian breathy tones go to the heart of Duke's melodic and harmonic concepts. Pianist Bill Charlap is excellent through and through, while bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington are dutiful in attending to their swing. Several of these tracks are read pretty straight, as the ballad "Lush Life," the easy swinger "Just Squeeze Me," the Afro-Cuban to bop "Caravan," and the air-filled "Sophisticated Lady." But the band changes up the rest. At the least extreme, "Mood Indigo" is easy swing as opposed to balladic; "Take the A Train" is slowed way down with Allen and Charlap only, while the pianist plays the melody while Allen's tenor counter-swipes licks on "C Jam Blues." More adapted is the slow tick-tock to bossa of the usual wall-melting ballad "Solitude," and a low-down, lugubrious bluesy swing with Charlap loading up on the intro and melody of "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," with Allen's stacatto stopped accents. At their most energetic, the quartet charges hard and trade eights during the up-tempo workout "Cotton Tail," whereas Allen and bassist Washington in duet need no other instrumental accoutrements in order to rhythmically fire up "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing." This is most likely Allen's best batch yet, for he is a great interpreter rather than innovator. Duke did all the inventing necessary here, and this true collective quartet is hard to top. Recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Product Details

Release Date: 08/26/2010
Label: Rca Victor / Rca
UPC: 0743217044824
Rank: 253329

Tracks

  1. C Jam Blues
  2. Solitude
  3. Mood Indigo
  4. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
  5. Lush Life
  6. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
  7. Things Ain't What They Used to Be
  8. Caravan
  9. Take the "A" Train
  10. Cotton Tail
  11. Sophisticated Lady

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Harry Allen   Primary Artist,Sax (Tenor)
Kenny Washington   Guest Artist,Drums
Bill Charlap   Guest Artist,Piano
Peter Washington   Bass

Technical Credits

Billy Strayhorn   Composer
Mercer Ellington   Composer
Mitchell Parish   Composer
Harry Allen   Producer,Liner Notes
Ikuyoshi Hirakawa   Producer
Barney Bigard   Composer
Ted Persons   Composer
Takashi Ohi   Design,Art Direction
Tetsuya Saito   Creative Director
Junichi Takahashi   Photography
Hiromichi Takiguchi   Mastering
Bill Moss   Assistant Engineer
Eddie DeLange   Composer
Irving Mills   Composer
Jim Czak   Engineer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Lee Gaines   Composer
Juan Tizol   Composer
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews