Музыка и песни Ellington, Edward Kennedy "Duke" / Эллингтон Эдуард Кеннеди "Дюк"

Сборник исполнений Великой Эллы Фитцджеральд в период с конца 1930 по 1950-е. Множество знаменитых и гениальных музыкантов помогают ей в работе. Это ознакомительный сборник, где собраны особенности ее Джазового и Блюзового вокала. Начните с этого диска. Талант Эллы раскроется везде.

Disc One opens with Ellington's 1962 covers of classic big-band material. Disc Two is where things not only get interesting but downright spellbinding, containing the entirety of the Afro-Bossa Album -- this is some of the most beautiful, engaging, and forward-looking music of Ellington's 1960s output, and the varied rhythms and textures are coupled with some truly luscious playing. Disc Three is largely given over to the material off of Symphonic Ellington, mixed band and orchestra pieces dating from the period in which Ellington began writing concert music for orchestra. Disc Four is devoted to the Ellington '65 and Ellington '66 albums, renditions of current pop and rock & roll hits. Few of Ellington's serious fans have ever professed much love for his Mary Poppins album, the contents of which open Disc Five, but the material holds up quite well, mostly because the soloists are enjoying themselves.

The album's extended piece, "The Queen's Suite," was originally recorded and privately cut onto one single LP by the Duke at his own expense, as a gift to Queen Elizabeth of England for her private enjoyment in 1959. (The release date cited by Amazon might be wrong; I have read that the Queen's Suite was not made commercially available until after the Duke's death in 1975.)