Sound Advice: CD Reviews - Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington (The Complete Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington Sessions)

CD Review:
On April 3rd and 4th 1961, at the RCA Studios in New York City, these two legends of Jazz came together for the first and only time in their illustrious careers. It turned out to be magic.

With both artists having a legendary orchestra, it was interesting how they decided to solve the problem of duplication. There was no need or want to have two orchestras playing, so an equitable solution was needed. It was decided that Armstrong's band, "The All Stars" would be used, with one exception. Billy Kyle would give up his piano duties to the Duke. Because Duke's band wouldn't be used, it was decided that to make up for it, the sessions would be of all Duke's compositions.

So with Satchmo's voice and trumpet, Barney Bigard's clarinet, Trummy Young's trombone, Mort Herbert's bass, Danny Barcelona's drums, and Ellington's piano and musical compositions, one of the most celebrated couplings in jazz history began.

Beginning with "Duke's Place," which is an invitation to join the musicians at a fabricated club named after Ellington, we begin to see the enjoyment we are in for on the album. "Duke's Place" is a rendition of "C Jam Blues" with lyrics. On the next track, "I'm Just a Lucky So and So," we see why Armstrong has no rival on vocals in jazz history, doing justice to one of Duke's most famous compositions. In "Cottontail," we see the magic of the playing of individual instruments in solo bits and Louis's scat prowess.

If Louis has one fault, if you can call it that, it is that because his voice is unique and so infectious, he can take you away from the actual music playing; to solve this the sessions include some non-lyrical tracks. These include, "The Beautiful American" an original composition made in the studio, "Black And Tan Fantasy" and "The Mooche" which uses a device called "the plunger mute" made famous by Ellington. It just takes the rubber part of a toilet plunger and is placed at the end of a trumpet to create a muting of the sound.

The jazz form of "swing" is brought to the fore on tracks like "It Don't Mean a Thing." This version of the song is slowed down somewhat when compared to other renditions. But, it brings forth an image of couples on the dance floor in the Cotton Clubs of yesterday and I can't help but bounce in my chair when hearing it.

My favourite tracks, if I can pick, are the slower tracks sung by Louis with a melancholic air; the ones about lost love. You hear a perfect blending of Louis's voice and the orchestra's playing. The two particular ones I'm speaking of are, "Solitude" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". Out of all the tracks, these are the ones that hit me the most.

Since the sessions have occurred their have been various re-releases. To lessen the confusion, the main history of the get together is as follows. The original 17 tracks were released by Roulette as "Together for the First Time." Roulette then released a further 10 track recording that was called "The Reunion Of..." but it is just a further recording of some of the first 17 tracks "in the making" and discussion by the members. The 27 total tracks were then put together in one release called "The Great Summit." Another release without the final 10 tracks, in other words a re-release of "Together for the First Time" was put out and called "The Complete Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington Sessions." All you have to really worry about when searching for the CD/record is to look at the track list and if you find 17 songs, then you have what you want. The tracks start with "Duke's Place" and end with "Azalea."

Scott D. Brown