Duke Ellington Cotton Club, Vol. 2: 1938 CD

Duke Ellington's extended engagement at the Cotton Club in Harlem, which regularly featured the band on radio during the late '30s, helped him achieve stardom. The music in this budget compilation, which clocks in at just over 41 minutes, provides an opportunity to enjoy the bandleader live early in his career. The sinister "Echoes of Harlem," with Ellington's pace-like piano backing Cootie Williams' growling trumpet, is an obvious highlight. Ellington's swinging treatment of Sergei Rachmaninov's Prelude in C Sharp minor contrasts with the humorous take of the old nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice." "Harmony in Harlem" features Johnny Hodges on soprano sax (he gave up the instrument for good two years later) and Williams. "Ev'ry Day" is a potent swing tune, though it was played only a few times during the decade before it was removed from the band book. Lawrence Brown's melancholy trombone is a highlight of "Lost in Meditation" (also recorded as "Have a Heart"), also featuring Ivie Anderson's sultry vocals. The hapless liner note writer describes "Rockin' in Rhythm" as a "seldom heard" Ellington vehicle, which is rather odd since hundreds of recordings by its composer have been documented between 1931 and shortly before his death in 1974. This version is a little slower than it was played later in his career, yet the solos by the bandmembers are no less exciting. The fidelity is decent for a 1938 broadcast, though there are a number of scratches in the source material for this volume. This historic music deserves to be compiled in a box set, or at least combined on a single disc with the contents of Cotton Club, Vol. 1: 1938, which could easily be accomplished. ~ Ken Dryden