*****RINGER OF THE WEEK*****
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
At The Crystal Gardens 1952
Hep Records 92/93
www.hepjazz.com
By George W. Harris

My dear old dad used to say that when he died, he had a list of
questions for God on topics he just couldn’t figure out from this side
of heaven. They included a) the Virgin birth b) the existence of evil
c) Jesus being both man and God and d) how Duke Ellington’s orchestra
got his sound. “Some things ya’ just can’t explain,” he’d say, after
listening to discs like this fantastic two cd set from Hep Records.

It was probably just another show on the road for Duke and his band;
the shows that are recorded here went from 11pm to past 1 in the
morning! Johnny Hodges wasn’t with the group at the time, but Willie
Smith was a more than capable replacement for the alto sax icon.
Ellington still had an all star collection with Louie Bellson/dr, Paul
Gonsalves/ts, Jimmy Hamilton/cl, Clark Terry/cn, Juan Tizol/tb, Britt
Woodman/tb and of course the foundation himself, Harry Carney on bari
sax.

And don’t think that Ellington was any type of slouch at the piano,
either. His solo work on “Fancy Dan” and “Dancers In Love” is as unique
as it is facile. But Ellington’s most famous instrument was the band
itself, and the breadth, depth, height and width of this collection of
musicians is astounding. What you’ve got here on this humble one-
nighter are standard Ellington hits like “Take The A Train” or “Mood
Indigo,” but there’s also a multi-suited take of “Sophisticated Lady”
that has Carney and Hamilton creating sonic wonders. A bit of bebop is
given a tip of the hat with some snappy trumpet solos on “How High The
Moon” (which is actually Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology”), while even
beat poetry gets a spotlight with Duke reciting some very hep story
telling backed by three clarinets on “Pretty and the Wolf.” But if what
you’re looking for is adventurous big band material, look no further
than the fiendishly tricky take of “The Tattooed Bride” which must have
blown away the early morning crowd in Salem, Oregon. Throw in a few
very snazzy vocals by Ray Nance and Jimmy Grissom, some Latin exotica
on “Caravan” and luscious ballad playing by Gonsalves on “Warm Valley”
and you’ve got a night you’re never going to want to forget.

In fact, after listening to these 2 hours of sonic splendor, the only
thing you’re going to forget is most of the other garbage you’ve
purchased that passes for music. This is the real thing.