Fretplay.com Duke Ellington & His Orchestra CD reviews Duke Ellington & His Orchestra guitar tabs Duke Ellington & His Orchestra CD reviews Duke Ellington & His Orchestra tabs Latin American Suite


Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Latin American Suite Audio CD

A fair review of the Duke Ellington & His Orchestra "Latin American Suite" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Duke Ellington & His Orchestra reviews here, or go back to the Duke Ellington & His Orchestra tabs.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Band: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Title: Latin American Suite
Rating:
Release Date: 1991-07-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Oclupaca 2: Chico Cuadradino 3: Eque 4: Tina 5: Sleeping Lady and the Giant Who Watches over Her 6: Latin American Sunshine 7: Brasilliance

Great Duke!
His creative genius digested those amazing sights/sounds/rhythms and expressed them anew in grand Ellingtonian style. Duke Ellington was SATURATED with and INSPIRED by the South American cultures he visited on his 1968 tour.

Very cohesive vision. Amazing Big Band! Duke mighty on the piano!

Other recommended recordings: Ellington's "The Far East Suite", Sun Ra's "Jazz in Silhouette", and Alice Coltrane's "Journey in Satchidananda". .


Latin American Suite
They toured Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Mexico, and throughout the tour Duke wrote music incorporating various impressions he'd made along the way.
In September 1968, Ellington took the orchestra to South America, the first time he'd ever been south of the Equator, he said. When they got back to the States, this album was recorded.

Simplicity is Duke's chief characteristic in this suite, as in many of his longer pieces. A couple of the tunes are blues employing the simplest of themes across the 12-bar form. Ensemble playing is emphasized here over solos, though Paul Gonsalves has a couple of good solo spots (on OCLUPACA and BRASILLIANCE), and Duke has finally given himself some solo space.

Some of the pieces still have the feeling of being works-in-progress (TINA, for example) and just seem to go on until they fade out, as if Duke wasn't quite sure how to end it yet. The rhythm in LATIN AMERICAN SUNSHINE is right out of Ravel's BOLERO. A few other tunes have hardly a Latin feeling to them at all. The suite as a whole is rather on the underwhelming side, with BRASILLIANCE the only piece with any drive to it. It's hard to consider this one of Ellington's major compositional efforts, though, of course, the band plays wonderfully.


Could have been called "This One Will Grow On You Suite"
But as I continually listened, I started to feel the warmth and beauty of the Latin America's. Originally, when I heard this suite, I was not impressed, there were moments but nothing like the other suites of his travels. That description makes this music sound slow, but this music isen't slow, if fact it is very upbeat, and powerful. Rufus Jones, is really pounding the drums hear (our they were just overly emphesised by the engineers) and at times it feels like to much, but over all it isen't so bad. The sub-par "Memories of Duke Ellington" DVD has a performance of "The Mexican Suite", which is where 3 sections of what become the "Latin American Suite". Enjoy.


Discography
" tells us who was in Ellington's band when these recordings were made. Latin American Suite
Nielsen's "Jazz Records, 1942-1980 Volume 6--Duke Ellington. For all the songs except "Tina" Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Willie Cook and Mercer Ellington played trumpets, Lawrence Brown, Chuck Connors and Buster Cooper played trombones. Jimmy Hamilton, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harold Ashby and Harry Carney played the saxophones. Jeff Castleman is the bassist, Rufus Jones is the drummer, and Duke Ellington plays piano.

"Tina" was recorded January 7, 1970 in Las Vegas. Ellington played the piano, Victor Gaskin and Paul Kondziela play bass and Rufus Jones plays the drums.


The Master never disappoints!
Sir Duke brings the Latin world home to you. . and without the "conga" percussion that is often over used by non-Latin musicians who try to swing with the great Latin Kings!. He surrounds you with Jazz. . . and there is nothing better.

"The Sleeping Lady and the Giant Who Watches over Her" is the best track of the suite. If you are into Jazz or not, . . . you will not be disappointed. Add this CD to your collection.


You can see a complete list of all Duke Ellington & His Orchestra discography, or go back to the Duke Ellington & His Orchestra tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]