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Duke Ellington - The OKeh Ellington Audio CD

A fair review of the Duke Ellington "The OKeh Ellington" 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 reviews here, or go back to the Duke Ellington tabs.

Duke Ellington Band: Duke Ellington
Title: The OKeh Ellington
Rating:
Release Date: 1991-03-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: East St. Louis Toodle-Oo 2: Hop Head 3: Down in Our Alley Blues 4: What Can a Poor Fellow Do? 5: Black and Tan Fantasy 6: Chicago Stomp Down 7: Sweet Mama (Papa's Getting Mad) 8: Stack O' Lee Blues 9: Bugle Call Rag 10: Take It Easy 11: Jubilee Stomp 12: Harlem Twist [East St. Louis Toodle-Oo] 13: Diga Diga Doo 14: Doin' the New Low Down 15: Black Beauty 16: Swampy River 17: Mooche 18: Move Over 19: Hot and Bothered 20: Blues With a Feeling 21: Goin' to Town 22: Misty Mornin' 23: I Must Have That Man! 24: Freeze and Melt 25: Mississippi Moan 26: That Rhythm Man 27: Beggar's Blues 28: Saturday Night Function 29: Jungle Jamboree 30: Snake Hip Dance 31: Lazy Duke 32: Blues of the Vagabond 33: Syncopated Shuffle 34: Mooche 35: Ragamuffin Romeo 36: East St. Louis Toodle-Oo 37: Sweet Mama 38: Hot and Bothered 39: Double Check Stomp 40: Black and Tan Fantasy 41: Big House Blues 42: Rocky Mountain Blues 43: Ring Dem Bells 44: Three Little Words 45: Old Man Blues 46: Sweet Chariot 47: Mood Indigo 48: I Can't Realize You Love Me 49: I'm So in Love With You 50: Rockin' in Rhythm

Terrible mastering. Ellington deserves much better
May your names live in shame forever. The mastering credits of this collection credit Tim Geeland and Larry Keyes for this mess. Its criminal what they did to these recordings. Terrible noise reduction job that kill these recordings and make them sound like coming from a closed garage.

That being said, there are some great moments of Ellingtonia in here, probably not my favorite period, but worthy specially to hear the best versions of the Mooche, and Black Beauty, Jubilee Stomp and Rockin in rythmn.

Sorry for the low rate, but the sound is horrible. Maybe Sony will remaster this set soon properly.


That Rhythm Man
From the weird introduction of East St. If like me your preference is for early Ellington, then this 2-CD set, covering Ellington's Okeh (Columbia) output between March 1927 and November 1930, should merit serious consideration. Louis Toodle-oo to the restrained finale of Rocking In Rhythm it's apparent that this is a band with a difference, not just for the virtuosity of the individual players (particularly Bubber Miley, Cootie Williams, Tricky Sam Nanton, Barney Bigard, and Johnny Hodges) but for Sonny Greer's peculiar shuffling rhythm which seems to have been the Duke's trademark during this period.

When these 50 tracks (49 on the international release) were issued in the late twenties (many in England on laminated Columbia and Parlophone pressings) the effect must have been quite sensational. The effect has been somewhat diminished in the transfer process, which has produced a certain fuzziness. Musically, it merits five stars, but remastering would only rate three, which averages out at four overall.

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Great Music, Poor Remastering
3 stars for music alone. What else can I say? I played a very clean copy of the 78 rpm of "Diga Diga Doo" on my turntable last week, then put on this CD's remastering, and it was amazing how Sony's engineeers drained all the presence and warmth out of what were some of the BEST recorded 78s of their era! Don't get me started on the pitch problems with the acoustic recordings! Now that Sony-BMG have merged, one can only pray that 21st-century technology will be applied to these masterworks and put this mangy puppy to sleep.


Atrocious Noise Reduction Job
The major label philosophy at that time was, "Eliminate any and all trace of hiss or crackle from the original 78, no matter if it totally kills the music in the process. I'm appalled this CD is still in print using the same horrid transfers Sony made in 1991. " Great progress has been made since that time in the development of technology to transfer 78s without destroying the music, but has Sony bothered to create a new remaster? No. They are still pressing new CDs from the original 1991 transfers and they sound HORRID. Save your money, I beg of you, and wait for somebody to do this material correctly. This release is a disgrace. .


Great music, but I hate this sound.
I love first version of The Mooche with Baby Cox and Hot & Bothered too. This 2Cd contains some great performances of this absolutely best orchestra ever. Harlem twist not first but one of the best versions of East St. Louis Toodle-oo. Great version of Mood Indigo and Black and Tan fantasy without Bubber Miley.
And first version of great Rockin'in Rhythm.
This is a essential music for every fans of early jazz.
But!!! sound on this double cd is one of the worst I ever heard.
Absolutely muted, no clarity, no high tones, no drums.
I recorded some songs (Rockin'in Rhythm, The Mooche, Harlem Twist) in Austrian radio station and sound on my cassette is 100% better than on this 2Cd.
I hope then this recordings in future will be release in better form than on this Cd.


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

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