Duke Ellington & His Orchestra – Masterpieces by Ellington (1951) [Analogue Productions 2014] SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + FLAC 24bit/96kHz

Masterpieces by Ellington is the first LP album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded for the Columbia label in 1950. It was one of the earliest 12-inch LPs to take advantage of the extended time available and consisted of four tracks, three of them “concert arrangements” of Ellington standards and one, “The Tattooed Bride”, a recent tone poem. The original 1951 release under the “Columbia Masterworks” banner featured a red cover which was replaced by the more modern blue cover in 1956. This album was re-released with additional bonus tracks recorded at later sessions from 1951.

Amazingly, it took Columbia Records until the very end of 1950, two years into the LP era and the transition from disc to magnetic tape recording, to get Duke Ellington and His Orchestra into the studio to cut a long-playing record. For the first time in his recording career, Ellington was able to forego the three-minutes-and-change restrictions in running time of the 78 rpm disc – he and the band rose to the occasion with extended (11-minute-plus) “uncut concert arrangements” of “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “Solitude,” augmented with one splendid newer work, “The Tattooed Bride.” And it’s taken 15 years into the CD boom before Masterpieces By Ellington has been given the treatment that it deserves. “The Tattooed Bride” is a swinging virtuoso piece that, as everyone present must have known, couldn’t possibly have been captured in this manner in any era before this session – this was also one of the last sessions to feature the classic Ellington lineup with Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown, and Sonny Greer, before their exodus altered the band’s sound, and so it’s a doubly precious piece (as is the whole album), among the last written specifically for this lineup.

Tracklist:

01. Mood Indigo
02. Sophisticated Lady
03. The Tattooed Bride
04. Solitude
05. Vagabonds*
06. Smada*
07. Rock Skippin’ at the Blue Note*

Personnel
Duke Ellington – piano
Billy Strayhorn – piano
Cat Anderson (tracks 1-4, 6 & 7), Shorty Baker, Mercer Ellington (tracks 1-4), Fats Ford (tracks 1-4), Ray Nance, Nelson Williams – trumpet
Lawrence Brown (tracks 1-4), Tyree Glenn (tracks 1-4), Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman (tracks 5-7) – trombone
Jimmy Hamilton – clarinet, tenor saxophone
Johnny Hodges (tracks 1-4), Willie Smith (tracks 5-7) – alto saxophone
Russell Procope – alto saxophone, clarinet
Paul Gonsalves – tenor saxophone
Harry Carney – baritone saxophone, bass clarinet (track 2)
Wendell Marshall – bass
Sonny Greer (tracks 1-4), Louis Bellson (tracks 5-7) – drums
Yvonne Lanauze – vocals

* -> Bonus Tracks.
Recorded on December 18, 1950. Bonus Tracks on August 7 & December 11, 1951.

SACD ISO

mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014SACDIS.part1.rar
mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014SACDIS.part2.rar
mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014SACDIS.part3.rar

DSF DSD64

mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014DSD64.part1.rar
mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014DSD64.part2.rar
mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014DSD64.part3.rar

FLAC

mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014FLAC2496.part1.rar
mqs.link_DukeEllingtnHisrchestraMasterpiecesbyEllingtn1951APRemaster2014FLAC2496.part2.rar