DUKE ELLINGTON — Festival Session (review)

DUKE ELLINGTON — Festival Session album cover Album · 1960 · Big Band Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
js
Recorded later in his career when he started experimenting with lengthy suites and other elements of the growing progressive big band movement, ‘Festival Session’ provides an excellent overview of Ellington’s career by offering re-workings of some of his greatest classics, as well as some brand new modern multi-sectioned suite compositions.

Side one opens with ‘Perdido’, a classic swing number from bygone days when jazz was a music for dancing and entertaining. The performance is superb and the band plays like no other with great humorous interjections from Ellington’s low register piano and some rumbling tympani. The following ‘Copout Extension’ is an extended workout on a previous Ellington tune. The sound on here is classic hard driving minor key jazz blues, the style that became the soundtrack for many a noir crime film back in the day. This style is timeless and was used heavily by Charles Mingus as he developed his no-nonsense bluesy hard bop big band sound. The rest of side one is taken up by ‘Duael Fuel’, a multi-sectioned suite that features Ellington’s two drummers in the new progressive big band style. Ellington’s new style was not particularly avant-garde or atonal, but instead involved complex arrangements that would mix unlikely international styles in fast changing sections that would often provide room for melodic development and variation somewhat similar to classical music but in a language that was pure jazz. All is not pure intellect here though as the band hit’s a swingin groove in the middle section before they head to the big dual drummer showdown in the final section.

Side two opens with another ambitious suite, ‘Idiom 59’. After a colorful fanfare opening, ‘Idiom’ settles into a swing groove tune in the second movement. In the third movement of the suite the swing tune is treated to abstractions from the piano and dark orchestral colors before returning to close out the piece. The Ellington standard ‘Things ain’t What They Used to Be’ follows and features the classic soulful saxophone stylings of Mister Swing himself, Johnny Hodges. Modern players have tried to imitate Hodges, but it can’t be done, his sound and style belong to that golden era in jazz when a horn player could interject so much personality into their sound. ‘Launching Pad’ closes out the record with another new piece by Ellington which offers a slightly modern sound that still swings in an older style.

If your only exposure to big band and swing is more commercial corny fare such as Glenn Miller or the Dorseys, you owe it to yourself to give the real thing a chance. This album makes a great intro to the world of Ellington with its mix of old classics and some more modern compositions as well.
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