Audio CD review:
Duke Ellington - Second Sacred Concert

Duke Ellington - Second Sacred Concert

Band: Duke Ellington Title: Second Sacred Concert Rating: Release Date: 09 July, 1990 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Praise God 2: Supreme Being 3: Heaven 4: Something About Believing 5: Almighty God 6: The Shepherd (Who Watches Over The Night Flock) 7: It's Freedom 8: Meditation 9: The Biggest And Busiest Intersection 10: T.G.T.T. 11: Praise God And Dance

Customer Reviews The Ellington Spirit Incarnate Critics and Ellington "purists" will tell you the Sacred Concerts are inferior Ellington. This is not only the best of the three Ellington Sacred Concerts but, with Alice Babs on hand, it's one of the best performances of that Concert. I beg to disagree. It's true that much of the music, such as the tuneful "Something About Believing," is accessible to the point of being mainstream pop. Duke was playing to a whole new audience and moreover using local choirs that had to learn the music on the fly. But listen to the orchestrations--the inimitable sound of the Ellington reed section--as well as the solo pieces and performances. Take the ingenious, artful little number, "Heaven. " Duke was no visionary like Coltrane: he was a genial, generous-hearted human being with an insatiable appetite for life and the things of this resplendent world. "Heaven" is another "Sophisticated Lady. " It will strike some listeners as being "inappropriate" and insufficiently "spiritual. " To my ears the piece is a hymn of thanksgiving by an artist who relished and was grateful for every moment of his existence--the sensuous as well as the spiritual. The Second Sacred Concert is Ellington writing about what he knows and in the process reflecting the substance and style of what had gone before. It's characteristic Ellington, which in my book is music at its best. Discography This cd is not a live concert. Second Sacred Concert. Ellington's Second Sacred Concert premiered on January 19, 1968 at The Cathedral of St. John Divine in New York City. On January 22, 1968 the numbers featuring Alice Babs were recorded at Fine Studios in New York city. They are "Almighty God," "Heaven," "It's Freedom," "TGTT," and "Praise God and Dance. " The remaining numbers were recorded at Fine Studios on February 19-20, 1968. Supreme Church-Ellington He did it. I find this music (fusion jazz-gospel-classic-christian-psalms) very successful. Noch ein mal. I've even performed the whole concert in our church (one of the biggest in north europe), and I just said; wow. My favorites are T. G. T. T. , The Shepard and the final. There is a reason Duke Ellington reached where he did. This. . You can see a complete list of all Duke Ellington discography, or go back to the Duke Ellington tabs