Mood Ellington

Duke Ellington is one of my favorite musicians, but I have never posted anything by him here because his output is well known. I did want him represented so I chose this 10-inch LP from an underrated period, clad in a cover that may be unfamiliar, at least to Americans.

This recordings were among the first products of Ellington's  move to  Columbia in 1947. He had been with the small Musicraft label, but it dropped him and other artists upon running into financial problems.

The Musicraft and Columbia sides are thought to pale in comparison with the great Victor records made only a few years earlier with what is sometimes called the Blanton-Webster band, for short-lived bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Yet the late 40s band has its own charms, amply on display here.

Junior Raglin, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, Ray Nance, Sonny Greer, Fred Guy, Harry Carney

Ellington was very interested in tonal colors at the time, and his song titles reflect that - here we have "On a Turquoise Cloud," "Golden Cress" and "Lady of the Lavender Mist". For Musicraft he had recorded "Transbluency," "Magenta Haze," and "Blue Abandon," among others. But there also are straightforward items like "Three Cent Stomp". All are unmistakably Ellington.

Columbia issued Mood Ellington with a variety of covers. The mid-1948 78 set had ominous piano keys emerging from a purple murk. An LP came out late that year with a generic music stand cover. This was replaced by a sticker cover that mixed the piano keys with string, for whatever reason. The 78 cover was then re-purposed, with the keys now floating over what looks like sulphuric acid (at left). All of these - and a particularly unattractive EP - are in the download.

Fortunately, Columbia licensee Philips saw fit to issue the same record with a cover actually depicting Duke himself, and that is the source of this post. My copy originated in Singapore, proving once again that fine music is cherished the world over.

I remember several decades ago being frustrated by the poor sound on most RCA LP issues of their records of the great man; and the Everest reissues of the Musicraft material were even worse. I hope this present transfer does justice to the splendors of the postwar band. [Note (June 2023): This is now available in vivid ambient stereo.]