Tribute to Ellington

Having proven his tango credentials, Daniel Barenboim makes another move beyond his classical orbit, into jazz. It's a qualified success. Cliff Colnot has scaled down Ellington's big-band arrangements for a smaller group (most of them apparently from Barenboim's orchestra, the Chicago Symphony) with relatively convincing results. The ensemble plays well and the music still swings. However, only the celebrity jazz guests, vocalist Dianne Reeves and clarinetist Don Byron--both of whom could have held down a place with the Ellington band in its prime--get much chance to do solos, always an essential part of Ellington's music. And they're on only two cuts each. Barenboim's concluding solo, "Fast and Furious," is an unconvincing replica of Ellington's playing. Check out Ellington's own recordings first. --Leslie Gerber Amazon.com

It Doesn't Feel Like Ellington

I agree with the reviewer who pointed out that Barenboim just didn't "get it." Although I admire Barenboim as a classical pianist and conductor, I had great difficulty listening to this recording. It felt too "up tight" for a jazz recording - it in fact isn't jazz, and yet it isn't classical music either. That air of spontaneity you find in the best jazz recordings is missing here. The formality of Barenboim's playing placed an invisible curtain between the music and the listener. His particular skill at the piano, which I've admired at concerts, just got in the way. August 7, 2007

Better Than You Might Expect

While few of these tracks will send you racing to the dance floor, they swing more than you might expect (appearances by Dianne Reeves and Don Byron help) and the recording quality is superb. Given that carefully-arranged chamber music isn't exactly out of line with Ellington's own approach, Barenboim's approach deserves consideration; just don't expect the kind of solos Ellington's own sidemen regularly supplied. May 28, 2007

Sorry but not that good

Though Maestro Barenboim is one of the great Euro-classical artists of our time, this album is not that good. Barenboim just did not get it, in my opinion. He's too stiff and perhaps too schooled in the European classical genre where interpretation is more structured rather than free and spontaneous with an affinity for the other musicians and the piece being played. Thus Barenboim is barely playing in most instances, seems too stilted, too deliberate. Yet, thankfully, he is a great classical pianist and conductor. A good effort though. Diane Reeves and Don Byron are great; of course Jazz is their domain.

Me thinks the maestro's ego got in the way when he said this about the album: "Together we have evolved a very particular style of playing this music. This is what fascinates me in this music, this is the reason why I did this recording. I do not mean to say that this is the only way to play Ellington, of course not. But it is consistent and it is exactly what I had imagined." --Daniel Barenboim (source: booklet enclosed with the CD)

Well, sorry DB, you missed the point entirely. You can't evolve perfection. But you should know that having played the perfect compositions of Mozart. Perhaps, "Barenboim on a Theme of Ellington" would have been the better title. Yet, being serious music, this particular work may grow on me after all.
January 27, 2007

A Great Album

I love this album. I know... a German classical performer isn't as spontaneous and soulful as many jazz performers but this album has great feeling of elegance. The arrangements are great, the performances are wonderful and the recording is sparkling. What DB lacks in soul he makes up for in polish. June 3, 2003

Does Justice to "The Duke"

Let me begin by expressing my desire for a more nuanced rating system. In reality, this CD is closer to a 4.5, but I'll be fair and round up. While we're still on the subject of reality, folks, lets face the cold, hard fact: no recording to date surpasses or matches Ellington's own releases with his original band (I don't believe any future recordings will either). With this in mind, it is pointless to compare the new crop to the stunning originals. In fact, many modern interpreters of Ellington's music have doomed themselves to inescapable failure by attempting to recreate what "The Duke" achieved. Barenboim and his guests, however, have no false hopes of attaining the unattainable. Rather, they play these pieces in the spirit of Ellington and his band -with scrupulous sensitivity, exposing the subtleties of meter, phrasing, harmonic modulation, and melodic variation - not in the completely unique style of their models. What results is an outstanding rediscovery and reaffirmation of the limitless possibilities of Ellington's compositions. To summarize: not better than the real thing, but not trying to be. What we have here is a work of art, born out of love for - and dedication to - one of the 20th Century's greatest musical masters, projected by some of the most adroit musicians before the public today. December 28, 1999

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