[Dixielandjazz] Ellington Reviewed

[Marek Boym]

>> Distills?  There is no distilling - it's the COMPLETE recordings!
>> True, there were other companies, but stil...  Distillation certainly
>> is not the right description.
>
> One definition of distill is:
>
> "to take the most important parts of something and put them in a different
> and usually improved form."
>
> That's exactly what Mosaic has done. As the reviewer said, they combined the
> various Ellington recordings of several different companies over the period
> from 1932 to 1940 into one 11 disc boxed set.  Seems to me that qualifies as
> a distillation of the sum total of early Ellington.

A matter of opinion.
>
> Then the review states why he calls it the first Grand Age of Ellingtonia
> with a convincing argument. What about the late 1920s. Why would this be the
> start of the first grand age of Ellingtonia, rather than 1932 to 1940?
>
> The 1930s was when Ellington started experimenting with chromatics and other
> harmonic alterations. The results, at least to me, were astounding.

De gustibus no disputandum est (to those who are not lawyers, this
means, literally, there is no disputing taste).
>
> The 1930s were when he composed and/or recorded a series of hits like
> Caravan, Solitude, I Let a Song Go out of My Heart, Sophisticated Lady, In a
> Sentimental Mood, It Don't Mean a Thing if It Aint Got That Swing and all
> those small group songs for individual band members.etc., etc. I don't think
> his work in the 1920s can compare in any way to his work and development in
> the 1930s.


You are entitled to your opinion.  Of course, the "mouldy figs"
consider anything after the Washingtonians worseless.  But Ellington
recorded so many classic numbers in the late twenties!  I consider
many better than "Caravan," for example (I admit this not being fair -
I hate the tune).

Cheers