Duke Ellington Ellington '66 CD

The mid-1960s Duke Ellington band had become a cultural institution, performing concerts regularly abroad, with its leader showered with honors, including a Lifetime achievement award at the Grammys. However this didn't stop them recording more contemporary, commercial fare. This release, with trumpeter Cootie Williams very much in evidence, captures the orchestra swinging for the fences, with arrangements of two Beatles songs--a Latin-tinged "All My Loving" and an artfully deconstructed "I Want to Hold Your Hand--as well as hits of the day, like "People," and a trio of Henry Mancini-composed movie themes in "Charade," "Moon River," and "Days of Wine and Roses."
An even more commercial effort than Ellington '65, Ellington '66 is yet another example of how the change in popular music toward an all rock & roll format found jazz musicians attempting crossover material with varying degrees of success. While much of the music here is standard American Popular Song à la "Satin Doll" and "Red Roses for a Blue Lady," other tracks such as the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" are clearly attempts at reaching a younger record-buying audience. While Ellington '66 isn't a bad recording and actually bests '65 for sheer listening pleasure, it is by no means required listening and will most likely appeal to die-hard Ellington completists. ~ Matt Collar