[Dixielandjazz] Ellington Reviewed

Stephen G Barbone barbonestreet at earthlink.net
Mon Jul 11 16:20:13 PDT 2011


Dear Marek:

You are talking generalities. How about some SPECIFICS. What  
"classic"tunes in the 1920s, for example?

And what "mouldy figs" who you say consider 1930s and afterwards  
Ellington
"worthless? do you speak for?

Cheers,
Steve

On Jul 11, 2011, at 5:51 PM, Marek Boym wrote:

>>> 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




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