Duke Ellington Great Paris Concert CD

Personnel: Duke Ellington (piano); Ray Nance (violin, cornet); Harry Carney (clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone); Russell Procope (clarinet, alto saxophone); Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Johnny Hodges (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Cootie Williams, Roy Burrowes, Cat Anderson (trumpet); Lawrence Brown , Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper (trombone); Ernie Shepard (double bass); Sam Woodyard (drums).
Liner Note Author: Stanley Dance.
This set came about, in part, as a result of Ellington's signing to Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in November 1962, with the ending of his exclusive contract to Columbia. Six numbers from the three Paris dates were initially edited and released by Reprise as part of the ten-song Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits, but the bulk of the performances from those shows didn't surface until many years later as The Great Paris Concert on two LPs. For the CD reissue, the two separate releases were merged with the ten Greatest Hits songs appended to the double-LP's contents. The stuff from The Great Paris Concert is raw and largely unedited, and depicts the full Ellington band in extraordinary form, oozing excitement -- from the saxophone showcase on the opener, "Rockin' in Rhythm," the various sections of the band take flight at different points throughout this set, which includes such contemporary numbers as Ellington's theme music for an all but forgotten television series, The Asphalt Jungle, and excerpts from Such Sweet Thunder . Johnny Hodges is showcased in several solos, most notably on "Suite Thursday," a work whose original studio incarnation he missed appearing on; Cootie Williams ("Tutti for Cootie"), Paul Gonsalves ("Cop Out"), Ray Nance ("Bula"), and Cat Anderson ("Jam with Sam") get their own moments in the spotlight. The editing and equalization on the Reprise tracks is considerably smoother and more obtrusive, in terms of closing fades, from that on the Atlantic release, where the sound is rougher and more realistic, and one wishes that original tapes could have been found and the complete 26 numbers from the Paris shows reassembled together in an integrated fashion. ~ Bruce Eder
As Stanley Dance's detailed and informative liner notes clarify, there were actually four Paris concerts from which this material was drawn. There's an abundance of material on this two-CD set, 30 cuts in all, and it's a luxurious trip through the Duke's extensive repertoire. Ellington was a pro at balancing his audience's desire to hear his classics with his own need to continue composing and presenting new material. So while we get recent (for 1963) creations like "Suite Thursday" and "Theme From The Asphalt Jungle'" we also get to hear the band travel back 30 years or more to reprise some of the original "jungle sound" compositions like "Black And Tan Fantasy," "Creole Love Call" and "The Mooche." This particular incarnation of Ellingtonians is alive and kicking. Duke can be heard hollering encouragement to his men from behind the piano, flirting with the audience (he's not going to tell them the title of the next piece, he explains, because "you're so hip"), and announcing such featured performers as Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams and Paul Gonsalves. All this, and great sound quality to boot.