About this item

The 24-CD set of Ellington's RCA recordings released in 1999, The Centennial Edition: The Complete Duke Ellington RCA Victor Recordings, was a monumental project, not only the ultimate celebration of the anniversary but also a summit in jazz research and the art of the reissue. The benefits of that project's immense labor--both in sound restoration and research--are now appearing in more modest, and far more affordable, forms. This single disc is drawn from the Ellington's three-CD The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings. It contains both revisions of earlier classics like "Solitude" and "Caravan" and then-new songs like "I'm Beginning to See the Light," one of Ellington's most popular songs and a hit for Harry James as well. Also included is "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" by Duke's son Mercer. The reverent "Come Sunday," one of Duke's most beautiful melodies, appears in its first recorded form, while "Tonk" is a spirited piano duet with Billy Strayhorn, his composition partner. Throughout, the band is simply magnificent, with veterans like Johnny Hodges and Lawrence Brown and newcomers Cat Anderson and tenor saxophonist Al Sears among the soloists lending their distinctive voices to Ellington's extraordinary musical conception. --Stuart Broomer