Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Newport 1958
Mosaic Singles

JJ Johnson & Kai Winding
Trombone For Two
Mosaic Singles

Mosaic records’ latest single releases are essential for filling in important musical blanks. Duke Ellington’s Newport gig in 1958 was not the earth shattering event of 56, but it had it’s share of wondrous moments. With the long time sax section of Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves and Harry Carney, the band could do no wrong. The wondrous amalgam of these reeds is one of jazz’s great pleasures. This disc was initially released as a studio recording with “live” applause dubbed in along side a couple of tracks from the concert. Mosaic has taken the studio pieces, included the best songs of the actual concert, and combined them to produce a sumptuous feast of Ellingtonia. Clark Terry is marvelous with his flugel horn on “Juniflip; “Mr Gentle and Mr. Cool” features some great work by Shorty Baker on trumpet and Ray Nance on violin. The closing “Prima Bara Dubla” is the showstopper, with guest Gerry Mulligan going toe to toe with Harry Carney on baritone sax for almost 7 minutes of sonorous heaven.

Believe it or not, the two trombone front line by “J & K” was actually a hit at the time. JJ Johnson and Kai winding got together in 1954 on a lark, and their initial recordings on Savoy, RCA, Prestige and Bethlehem caught on with the jazz crowd. In 1955, they put out their arguably best disc, “Trombone for Two” which featured Dick Katz (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Osie Johnson, for a set of straightahead heaven. Mosaic has added a second session with Shadow Wilson and Kenny Clarke on drums, and Milt Hinton on bass. None of the songs go over 5 minutes, so the music is concise, tight and in the pocket. The songs are all well arranged, and feature some velvety voices by the likes of these two horn masters. These sessions are appealing both viscerally and emotionally. Available on a limited basis by Mosaic Records. www.mosaicrecords.com.