Jazz Icons: Duke Ellington Live in '58 (2007)

Jazz Icons: Duke Ellington features the earliest-known filmed full-length concert by one of the 20th Century's greatest songwriters and bandleaders. Filmed at Amsterdam's famed Concertgebouw, this 80-minute concert features the 16-piece Duke Ellington Orchestra two years after their stunning performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival,which Duke considered his second birth. This epic performance includes legendary players Clark Terry, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Quentin Jackson and Ray Nance performing some of the most beloved American music ever written.

 A nearly complete concert by an all-star band
The Jazz Icons series released 16 videos through 2007, each featuring a different jazz artist. This is the fifth one that I've acquired, and so far they've all been great. Somebody should give these people an award for their efforts to preserve American culture by searching international video archives.
Video quality is unavoidably limited by what's found in those archives, in this case a November 1958 concert in Amsterdam that was recorded for TV broadcast. The black & white video is very grainy and lacks adequate contrast in some scenes. The audio is mono, but the sound quality excellent - clear and well balanced.
The show starts out slow and mellow, but the energy level picks up when they get to "Rockin' in Rhythm." The program includes several well-known Ellington standards, such as "Black and Tan Fantasy," "Creole Love Call," "Sophisticated Lady" (featuring, of course, the baritone sax of Harry Carney), "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" (as a vehicle for alto sax star Johnny Hodges), "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue" (with tenor man Paul Gonsalves recreating the excitement of the classic Newport 1956 recording), and a 10-song Ellington medley. Noticeably absent is "Take the A Train."
A couple of my favorite moments: a young but already accomplished Clark Terry featured on trumpet in "Harlem Air Shaft" and a stoic but musically expressive Johnny Hodges working his magic on "All of Me." Also enjoyable are the finishing touches that Cat Anderson adds to some of the arrangements as he ventures into a frequency range that the trumpet was never intended to reach.
The package includes an informative 24-page booklet offering a detailed history of this concert tour and other interesting anecdotes about Ellington and his sidemen. One of the things we learn from these notes is that the concert video was done near the end of a grueling several weeks for the band, doing shows in different cities almost every night. That explains why many in the band look tired in this performance. But remarkably, they don't sound tired, and that's what is important.
Fans of Ellington, and classic big bands in general, should pick this up without hesitation, despite the inescapable limitations of half-century old video. February 23, 2008

 Not 5 Stars only because of picture quality
As one of my friends says; "I love Ellington more than life itself". I never got to see the Ellington Orchestra in person so it's mighty thrilling to watch this. My only complaint is that the technological limits of the time meant that black folk's images didn't translate well to video. The members of the band with the darkest skin look like black blobs without facial expressions some of the time. Even so, I highly recommend this disc. Just to see Duke leading his men and exclaiming "Johnny Hodges!" in his inimitable way...spine tingling. February 4, 2008

 jazz icons duke ellington live in 58
Duke Ellington: piano, Jimmy Woode: bass, Sam Woodyard: drums
Johnny Hodges: alto sax
Russell Procope: alto sax, clarinet
Paul Gonsalves: tenor sax
Jimmy Hamilton: tenor sax, clarinet
Harry Carney: baritone sax, bass clarinet
Clark Terry, Shorty Baker, and Cat Anderson: trumpet
Ray Nance: trumpet, violin
Quentin Jackson and Britt Woodman: trombone
John Sanders: valve trombone
Ozzie Bailey: vocal.
With good sound, good black and white images, and expert camera work this DVD re creates the experience of being at the concert even down to ligering at the end to watch the musicians pack up and leave.
The entire concert isn't there but there's plenty that is and, as you'd expect, it's great stuff. January 14, 2008

 A genuine classic performance captured
At aged 15 I asked my cousin, who had similar musical tastes to myself both classical and jazz but who had served in WW11 as an airman and travelled the world, "Tell me your greatest musical experience" - he said " Seeing the 1942 Duke Ellington band live in New York." It's a big call for one to say what has been the greatest musical experience one has had - there may the Berlin Philharmonic, Aida, Louis Armstrong, Wagner, Richter, Bob Dylan, etc, etc and some say it's a silly exercise anyway. Maybe it is. Nevertheless, my cousin never recovered from his experience of the band. Some idea of Mr Ellington's magic may be garnered from the clarinet of Jimmy Hamilton on My Funny Valentine, not a Duke staple, which puts the Duke experience in perspective. Electricity was in the air, with no applause at the end of this solo just stunned silence. The Duke Ellington band - of whatever era - had such depth of talent that very very few groups come close. Add to this the arrangements, writing and leadership, then we can only relish the recorded legacy that exists and marvel. This DVD is a great experience. November 28, 2007

 A Dream Come True
To have a complete concert of Duke Ellington when the band was still at the height of its powers is a dream come true. A group of us also marveled at the amazing sound on my 5 speaker home theater, and the concert is from 1958! I love the 'Reeling in the Years' production group and hope they keep on finding these wonderful rarities. October 5, 2007

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