DUKE ELLINGTON Meets John Coltrane + Meets Coleman Hawkins

DUKE ELLINGTON Meets John Coltrane + Meets Coleman Hawkins CD 2013

(2 LP ON 1 CD)

The jazz establishment met the young iconoclast when Duke Ellington and John Coltrane recorded together in September 1962, a meeting that seems, in retrospect, as unlikely as it was daring. But it worked. Each brought a rhythm section with him; Ellington had bassist Aaron Bell and drummer Sam Woodyard, while Coltrane came with Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. A surprisingly homogenous, lyrical and thoroughly engaging session was capped with a magnificent reading of In A Sentimental Mood, but it also included splendid performances of My Little Brown Book, Take The Coltrane and The Feeling Of Jazz. Ellington is probing and inventive and Coltrane blends beautifully into a mainly Ducal programme.

Recorded a month earlier, the encounter with Coleman Hawkins was an altogether more lighthearted affair, with the two old masters enjoying a friendly and entertaining joust. Hawkins was the only outsider in a band of Ellingtonians Nance, Brown, Hodges, Carney, Bell and Woodyard and its intriguing to hear his gruff, eloquent tenor emerging from the unmistakeable colours of such a group. Limbo Jazz perhaps sums up the mood; its a piece of fun, but there are other moments to savour on Wanderlust and a buoyant The Jeep Is Jumpin and The Ricitic.

Amazing and unpredictable as ever, Ellington here confirms, yet again, his reputation as a musician beyond category.

01. In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington-Kurtz-Mills) 4:14
02. Take the Coltrane (Ellington) 4:43
03. Big Nick (Coltrane) 4:27
04. Stevie (Ellington) 4:22
05. My Little Brown Book (Strayhorn) 5:20
06. Angelica (Purple Gazelle) (Ellington) 5:59
07. The Feeling of Jazz (Ellington-Troup-Simon) 5:34
08. Limbo Jazz (Ellington) 5:14
09. Mood Indigo (Ellington-Bigard-Mills) 5:55
10. Ray Charles Place (Ellington) 4:04
11. Wanderlust (Ellington-Hodges) 4:59
12. You Dirty Dog (Ellington) 4:18
13. Self Portrait (Of the Bean) (Ellington-Strayhorn) 3:52
14. The Jeep Is Jumpin (Ellington-Hodges) 4:48
15. The Ricitic (Ellington) 5:50
16. Solitude (Ellington-DeLange-Mills) 5:51 (*)
(*) Bonus track

Release Date: 2 Jan 2020