Audio CD review:
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Such Sweet Thunder

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Such Sweet Thunder

Band: Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Title: Such Sweet Thunder Rating: Release Date: 27 April, 1999 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Such Sweet Thunder (Cleo) 2: Sonnet For Caesar 3: Sonnet To Hank Cinq 4: Lady Mac 5: Sonnet In Search Of A Moor 6: The Telecasters 7: Up And Down, Up And Down (I Will Lead Them Up And Down) (Puck) 8: Sonnet For Sister Kate 9: The Star-Crossed Lovers (AKA Pretty Girl) 10: Madness In Great Ones (Hamlet) 11: Half The Fun (AKA Lately) 12: Circle Of Fourths 13: The Star-Crossed Lovers (AKA Pretty Girl) (Stereo LP Master) 14: Circle Of Fourths (Stereo LP Master) 15: Suburban Beauty (Master Take) 16: A Flat Minor (Preferred Take) 17: Cafe Au Lait (Preferred Take) 18: Half The Fun (AKA Lately) (Alternate Take) 19: Suburban Beauty (Alternate Take) 20: A Flat Minor (Outtakes) 21: Cafe Au Lait (Outtakes) 22: Pretty Girl (AKA The Star-Crossed Lovers) (First Recording) 23: Bonus Track 1

Editoral Review But this one was far more unlikely than Ellington and cocomposer Billy Strayhorn's other suites, with its focus on characters developed by William Shakespeare. Such Sweet Thunder was, like Black, Brown and Beige and the later Far East Suite and other works of the late-1950s and on, a long-form study broken into identifiable miniatures that could stand alone as tunes. Pieces were scripted for both centuries-old characters and Ellington band members; for example, Paul Gonsalves's tenor sax and Johnny Hodges's alto parry as a musical Romeo and Juliet on "Star-Crossed Lovers. " Surely this description of the CD makes it sound stiff, even pretentious, but the music gives the lie to such an assumption. Ellington was a master of sectional polyphony, making sure his band's sections swung individually and then in tandem with the other sections, creating a powerful, sometimes swirling swing. But he had Strayhorn, who was also a master of creating moods and ambient textures. And that's where this session becomes fascinating, in the moments when the group creates something other than rhythmic propulsion, standard harmony, or even focused melody. Rounding out the original LP issue--which accounts for only half of this CD's length--are a host of alternate takes, three of them wholly or partially unreleased until this set. --Andrew Bartlett .. You can see a complete list of all Duke Ellington & His Orchestra discography, or go back to the Duke Ellington & His Orchestra tabs