The Cosmic Scene

Occupation

The Cosmic Scene: Duke Ellington 's Spacemen is a jazz album by Duke Ellington, which commences on 2 and 3 April in New York and appeared in Columbia. In the 1990s, the album was first released in CD form, extended by two alternate takes. In 2006, a remastered stereo version of the album at Mosaic Records.

Music Album

Although Duke Ellington still rode on the wave of the triumphant success of his Newport appearance in 1956, he decided in 1958 to reduce his orchestra for the ongoing tours to the size of a nonet, which he - influenced by the former enthusiasm for satellite - The Spacemen called it. With this formation only took a single recording session beginning February 1958 held in New York. Ellington's ensemble played here mostly jazz standards; the arrangements envisaged a prominent role of trombonist Quentin Jackson, John Sanders and Britt Woodman as supporters of the soloists.

The material of the Spacemen session included the song standards and Early Autumn, both features for the clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton ( of the two numbers also arranged ) and a blues version of the St. Louis Blues with Ellington as a soloists, as well as two versions of the classic body and Soul with the tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves solo that completely reverses the polarity of the piece and puts on a new harmonic basis, while he returns at the Alternate Take to the original melody.

The band played next to the Strayhorn classic Take the " A" Train a modified version of Juan Tizols Perdido, the standard Midnight Sun and two versions of Clark Terry's swinging composition Jones, at its Second Take drummer Sam Woodyard at the New Orleans Jazz ajar Shuffle sets accents. For the session Ellington wrote two original compositions, as a feature for the bassist Jimmy Woode Bass -Ment and - with Terry as soloist on flugelhorn - a quickie Spacemen that takes most bonds on the Bebop. The critic Michael G. Nastos she called Ellington's probably strangest number in this period.

Reception

Michael G. Nastos regretted in Allmusic that the Spacemen album as " in many ways the least estimated intake in the vast annals of Ellingtonia probably " was; yet it was " highly recommended".

Hans Ruland called the album in its Ellington biography " Dukes first retained on disk discussion of the Bebop [ ... ] with a delay of about 15 years. Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves and especially Clark Terry shined with their solos to these recordings [ ... ] the shrunken Ellington band " spiritus rector of this session was undoubtedly Clark Terry was, " the its superior technology and its magnificent sound -. Most especially flugelhorn - here is entirely at the service of the new embassy. Ellington fans wanted them unfortunately do not know [ ... ]. "

In particular, underscored Ruland the processing of Al Jolson Avalon swing standards, on the "harmonious framework distant melody solos were blown to which Sam Woodyard gave a pulsating rhythm in double time. "

List of items

  • The Cosmic Scene: Duke Ellington 's Spacemen (Columbia 84407 )
  • The pieces 1, 2 & 9-11 were taken on April 2, the pieces 3-8 & 12 on April 3, 1958.
Record label Columbia Records Genre Ellington at Newport Nonet (music) Avalon (Al Jolson song) Saint Louis Blues (song) Billy Strayhorn Perdido (song) Swing (jazz performance style) Vincent Rose Edward Heyman Johnny Green Ralph Burns Woody Herman Sonny Burke Lionel Hampton Johnny Mercer Richard Cook (journalist) Brian Morton (Scottish writer)
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