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Duke Ellington - Black, Brown and Beige Audio CD

A fair review of the Duke Ellington "Black, Brown and Beige" 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: Black, Brown and Beige
Rating:
Release Date: 2008-02-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 1 2: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 2 3: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 3 [aka Light] 4: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 4 [AKA Come Sunday] - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Mahalia Jackson 5: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 5 [AKA Come Sunday] 6: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 4 [23rd Psalm] - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Mahalia Jackson 7: Track 360 [Aka Trains][Alternate Take][#][*] 8: Blues in Orbit [Aka Tender][Alternate Take][#][*] 9: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 1 [Alternate Take][#] 10: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 2 [Alternate Take][#] 11: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 3 [Alternate Take][#] 12: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 4 [AKA Come Sunday][Alternate Take][#] 13: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 5 [AKA Come Sunday][Alternate Take][#] 14: Black, Brown and Beige, Pt. 4 [23rd Psalm][Alternate Take] - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Mahalia Jackson 15: Studio Conversation [#] - Duke Ellington 16: Come Sunday [#] - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Mahalia Jackson 17: [Six Second Pause Track] - Duke Ellington

Lovely, lovely, lovely!
Mahalia, generally speaking DIDN'T record (or sing for that matter) jazz, soul, r&b and other genres;
but she had a high opinion of Duke's work and Duke's orchestra (not a huge surprise there) and he did give her a role that goes well with her religious convictions: she was to sing the religious segment of the African American historical experience. . Something she was famous for. . .
So, this is not a typical Ellington orchestra album, but it's a great album nevertheless, with LOVELY and emotional contributions by Ray Nance, Harry Carney, John Sanders, Quentin Jackson, Cat Anderson, Shorty Baker (. . . ) and the Duke himself.

Additional tracks (two of which I already have on my CBS Jazz Masterpieces "Blues in Orbit" CD - Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit (Columbia Jazz Masterpieces))
are very, very welcome, even if they sometimes dilute the sheer beauty of the core performances of the album, the selected parts from "Black, Brown and Beige" suite. For me, Ellington's music shows continuous development from the late 1920s until the 1960s (I haven't yet listened to the last few years of his orchestrations) so, this peculiar album is something that will repeatedly find its way to my CD player.


Good, but slightly misleading title
Of the three CDs worth of music, only the first 4 tracks are from B,B,&B. The songs contained within these CDs are excellent examples of this stage in the career of Duke Ellington, but I think both the title and Amazon's track listing are misleading (or in the case of the musical samples, incorrect). There are also 4 from the "Perfume Suite", which debuted in Carnegie in 1945, on the second CD. The rest are normal Ellington fare from the period. I think this should be made clearer. An accurate track listing would do much to clear this up.
Overall, great stuff for an any Ellington fan and generally good remastering.
.


Nice, but ...
It has its moments, but the bigger orchestra and more vocals make this unit a little closer to the level of other swing bands from 1945. it can't compare with the Blanton-Webster set.


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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