Today's work truck music.....
Duke Elegant -- CD
Dr. John
Performing The Music Of Duke Ellington
1999 EMI Records
"Pure Fonk-I-Fied", February 22, 2000
By "hoglips" - See all my reviews
This review is from: Duke Elegant (Audio CD)
Wow! This is a fun, happy cd. Whenever I listen to it I feel a smile on my face & a glow. Dr. John has taken some of Ellington's best-known compositions & flavored them with his New Orleans spice to come up with a sublime concoction. Some of the previous reviews have better expressed the joys of this cd so I won't reiterate them. I'd just like to add that this cd is a worthy addition to the collection of any fan of jazz, blues, the Duke or Dr. John. It has been excellently recorded, the band is tight & Dr. John's piano is perfect. His voice on the non-instrumental tracks is at its' raspy best.
What I particularly enjoyed was the funkiness. Never has the Duke sounded so fun!
The year each song was originally written is given with the composers' names.
"On The Wrong Side of the Railroad Tracks" (1947; John Latouche, Duke Ellington) - 5:42
"I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" (1959; Duke Ellington, Peggy Lee) - 5:04
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1932; Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) - 5:32
"Perdido" (1942; Ervin M. Drake, Hans Longsfolder, Juan Tizol) - 5:50
"Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (1942; Bob Russell, Duke Ellington) - 2:47
"Solitude" (1934; Duke Ellington, Eddie DeLango, Irving Mills) - 5:06
"Satin Doll" (1953; Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington) - 4:46
"Mood Indigo" (1931; Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Barnard Bigard) - 6:55
"Do Nothin' 'Til You Hear From Me" (1943; Bob Russell, Duke Ellington) - 5:31
"Thing's Ain't What They Used To Be" (1942; Mercer Ellington) - 6:25
"Caravan" (1937; Juan Tizol, Irving Mills, Duke Ellington) - 6:24
"Flaming Sword" (1940; Duke Ellington) - 5:45