30 nov 2008

(36)

Ella at Duke's Place

This is perhaps not as good as the Ella's Duke songbook. It is kind of a follow up to that. It does have a nice version of "Cottontail" and Strayhorn's "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing." I'm not crazy about the lyrics to "Brown Skin Girl in the Calico Hat' or "Imagine My Frustration." There's nothing here as good as "Prelude to a Kiss."

1 comentario:

John dijo...

I remember reading somewhere that "Imagine My Frustration" was the Ellington organization's attempt to write a rock and roll song. It delights me -- Ella as teen! Ellington's rock instrumentals on "Far East Suite" and "Afro-Eurasian Eclipse" are fantastic.

"Ella at Duke's Place" is anomalous in that half of it or so is arranged by a pianist other than Ellington or Strayhorn; Jimmy Jones, if memory serves. Nice album, but the Ella's earlier Ellington Songbook collection is a monument.