Recollections of the Big Band Era explained

Recollections of the Big Band Era
Type:Album
Artist:Duke Ellington
Cover:Recollections of the Big Band Era.jpg
Released:1974
Recorded:November 29, 1962, December 11, 13, 14, 20 & 29, 1962 & January 3 & 4, 1963
Studio:Universal Recording Corp. (Chicago)
Genre:Jazz
Length:74:18 (CD Reissue)
Label:Atlantic
(recorded by Reprise)
Chronology:Duke Ellington
Prev Title:Will Big Bands Ever Come Back?
Prev Year:1963
Next Title:Afro-Bossa
Next Year:1963

Recollections of the Big Band Era is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1962 and 1963 by Bruce Swedien at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago for the Reprise label but not released until 1974 on the Atlantic label.[1] The album features performances of compositions associated with big bands led by artists such as Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and others by the Duke Ellington's Orchestra. The 1989 CD reissue included 11 bonus tracks that originally appeared on Will Big Bands Ever Come Back? which was released on Reprise in 1965.[2]

Reception

The AllMusic review by Bruce Eder awarded the album 3 stars and stated: "The material is done in a smooth, swinging style, more laid-back than what the Count Basie orchestra of the same period would have done with this same stuff but with enough fire and boundless elegance to make it more than worthwhile... this is sort of a concept album, and a rather good one at that".[3]

Track listing

  1. "Minnie the Moocher" (Cab Calloway, Clarence Gaskill, Irving Mills) - 2:47
  2. "For Dancers Only" (Sy Oliver, Don Raye, Vic Schoen) - 3:04
  3. "It's a Lonesome Old Town (When You're Not Around)" (Charles Kisco, Harry Tobias) - 2:20
  4. "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) - 2:54
  5. "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" (Dorcas Cochran, Quincy Jones, Henri Salvador) - 3:06
  6. "Let's Get Together" (Chick Webb) - 2:40
  7. "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (George Bassman, Ned Washington) - 3:25
  8. "Chant of the Weed" (Don Redman) - 3:26
  9. "Ciribiribin" (Alberto Pestalozza) - 3:28
  10. "Contrasts" (Jimmy Dorsey) - 2:45
  11. "Christopher Columbus" (Chu Berry, Andy Razaf) - 3:05
  12. "Auld Lang Syne" (Robert Burns, Traditional) - 2:19
  13. "Tuxedo Junction" (Erskine Hawkins, Bill Johnson, Buddy Feyne) - 3:27 Bonus track on CD reissue
  14. "Smoke Rings" (Gene Gifford, Ned Washington) - 2:51 Bonus track on CD reissue
  15. "Artistry in Rhythm" (Stan Kenton) - 3:17 Bonus track on CD reissue
  16. "The Waltz You Saved for Me" (Gus Kahn, Wayne King) - 2:27 Bonus track on CD reissue
  17. "Woodchopper's Ball" (Joey Bishop, Woody Herman) - 3:15 Bonus track on CD reissue
  18. "Sentimental Journey" (Les Brown, Bud Green, Ben Homer) - 2:29 Bonus track on CD reissue
  19. "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" (Clarence Muse, Leon René, Otis René) - 3:17 Bonus track on CD reissue
  20. "One O'Clock Jump" (Count Basie) - 7:20 Bonus track on CD reissue
  21. "Goodbye" (Gordon Jenkins) - 3:04 Bonus track on CD reissue
  22. "Sleep, Sleep, Sleep" (Earl Lebieg) - 2:45 Bonus track on CD reissue
  23. "Rhapsody in Blue" (George Gershwin) - 4:47 Bonus track on CD reissue

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. http://www.depanorama.net/index.htm A Duke Ellington Panorama
  2. Hovan, C. A. Duke Ellington:The Reprise Studio Recordings Review All About Jazz, January 1, 2000.
  3. Eder, B. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r138250|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic Review] accessed May 11, 2010