Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions [Box set] [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
The complete and definitive edition of the studio recordings, with Ben Webster on tenor sax and Jimmy Blanton on bass. Only master takes, without alternates. 4 CD set

Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions, Music, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster, Jimmy Blanton, Big Band, Classic Jazz, Jazz, Orchestral Jazz, Progressive Big Band, Standards, Swing
Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions
Average customer rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars
  • A few good tracks..
  • Superannuated piracy
 Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions
Duke Ellington , Ben Webster , and Jimmy Blanton
Manufacturer: Definitive Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big BandClassic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big BandContemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Orchestral JazzOrchestral Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall

ASIN: B00004Z3KF
Release Date: 2004-04-05

Tracks:

  1. Truckin' - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  2. Cotton - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  3. Accent on Youth - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. In a Jam
  5. Exposition Swing
  6. Uptown Downbeat
  7. Solitude - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  8. Stormy Weather - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington Orchestra
  9. Mood Indigo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  10. Sophisticated Lady - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  11. You, You Darlin'
  12. Jack the Bear
  13. Ko Ko
  14. Morning Glory
  15. So Far, So Good
  16. Conga Brava
  17. Concerto for Cootie
  18. Me and You
  19. Cotton Tail
  20. Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore)
  21. Dusk
  22. Bojangles

Tracks:

  1. Portrait of Bert Williams
  2. Blue Goose
  3. Harlem Air Shaft
  4. At a Dixie Roadside Diner
  5. All Too Soon
  6. Rumpus in Richmond
  7. My Greatest Mistake
  8. Sepia Panorama
  9. There Shall Be No Night
  10. In a Mellow Tone
  11. Five O'Clock Whistle
  12. Flaming Sword
  13. Warm Valley
  14. Across the Track Blues
  15. Chloe
  16. I Never Felt This Way Before
  17. Without a Song - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  18. My Sunday Gal - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  19. Mobile Bay - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  20. Linger Awhile - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  21. Charlie the Chulo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  22. Lament for Javanette - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster

Tracks:

  1. Lull at Dawn
  2. Ready Eddy
  3. Sidewalks of New York - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. Flamingo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  5. Girl in My Dreams Tries to Look Like You - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  6. Take the "A" Train
  7. Jumpin' Punkins
  8. John Hardy's Wife
  9. Blue Serge
  10. After All
  11. Bakiff
  12. Are You Sticking?
  13. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
  14. Giddybug Gallop
  15. Chocolate Shake
  16. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
  17. Clementine
  18. Brown-Skin Gal (In the Calico Gown)
  19. Jump for Joy
  20. Moon Over Cuba
  21. Some Saturday - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  22. Subtle Slough - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster

Tracks:

  1. Menelik: The Lion of Judah
  2. Poor Bubber
  3. Five O'Clock Drag - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. Rocks in My Bed - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  5. Bli-Blip - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  6. Rain Check
  7. What Good Would It Do?
  8. I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I Got
  9. Chelsea Bridge
  10. Perdido
  11. C Jam Blues
  12. Moon Mist
  13. What Am I Here For?
  14. I Don't Mind
  15. Someone
  16. My Little Brown Book
  17. Main Stem
  18. Johnny Come Lately
  19. Hayfoot, Strawfoot
  20. Sentimental Lady
  21. Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship) - Mercer Ellington
  22. Sherman Shuffle

Album Description

The complete and definitive edition of the studio recordings, with Ben Webster on tenor sax and Jimmy Blanton on bass. Only master takes, without alternates. 4 CD set

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars A few good tracks.........2006-07-03

5 Stars for Duke. Minus 4 stars for remastering (or lack of). The material is the cream of the crop Ellington, but the people who remastered this tried to get too much clarity and the end result is distortion. Definitive releases are usually a good bargain but this is a complete waste of money.
Buy the "Never No Lament" compilation. It's also has suffered the overuse of the original masters but it's the best you can get.
Where's JT Davies on this one? RCA probably would let him near these recordings 'cause then we'd have affirmation that most remastering is pretty average.
Add One star for the tracks here that are Columbia issues and they are impossible to find elsewhere(Hello Columbia...not everyone wants the Complete... And how about issuing the late 40's/Early 50's seperately?).
Also Mr JB Blues and a couple other Blanton duets are here and difficult to find elsewhere.
Dave Wilson

1 out of 5 stars Superannuated piracy.......2006-02-28

This is one of the older "Definitive sets" that I bought before I understood how copyright lapse on older musical recordings is used by knowledgable aficianados of older music to remaster and promulgate music neglected by the big labels and mis-used by thieves to ripoff historic copyright holders or the aforesaid aficionados who make old music available to other aficionados. An example of the first class would be the now-deceased John R.T. Davies, who worked for labels such as Frog, Hep, and Mosaic, the Australian Robert Parker, whose works are produced by Louisiana Red Hot Records, and the rather mysterious French outfit Chronogical [sic] Jazz Classics. The second class is represented, sub-typically, by this boiler room outfit "Definitive".
These people, who move about in Andorra, Spain, and perhaps other parts over there, have burned this set over from the OLD RCA-Victor (BMG, now Sony-BMG or whatever they call themselves) set, the "Blanton-Webster" Band, with the addition of some aural decay that came I know not whence. They added some tracks from the Thirties that include the not yet quite mature Webster; these I'm pretty sure they stole from Chronogical (for some reason, the copyright holder Sony (Columbia) had not released these in a modern CD format.).
I suggest the newer BMG (RCA-Victor) release: "Never no lament". The packaging stinks and in fact the sound is not the very best I've heard, especially on the first disc, but it sure beats the older RCA release with its heavy handed noise reduction. And, by extension, this shameful rip-off.
Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Piracy
  • Fantastic CD's of a Fantastic Ellington Band
  • Great music but not always the best sound quality
 Duke Ellington: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Sessions
Duke Ellington , Ben Webster , and Jimmy Blanton
Manufacturer: Definitive
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
Swing GeneralSwing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Classic Big BandClassic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Contemporary Big BandContemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Orchestral JazzOrchestral Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Box Sets | Stores | Music
Big BandBig Band | Jazz | Box Sets | Stores | Music
GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Swing JazzSwing Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Traditional & Vocal PopTraditional & Vocal Pop | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
JazzJazz | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005Y7TR
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Tracks:

  1. Truckin' - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  2. Cotton - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  3. Accent on Youth - Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. In a Jam
  5. Exposition Swing
  6. Uptown Downbeat
  7. Solitude - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  8. Stormy Weather - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington Orchestra
  9. Mood Indigo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  10. Sophisticated Lady - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington
  11. You, You Darlin'
  12. Jack the Bear
  13. Ko Ko
  14. Morning Glory
  15. So Far, So Good
  16. Conga Brava
  17. Concerto for Cootie
  18. Me and You
  19. Cotton Tail
  20. Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore)
  21. Dusk
  22. Bojangles

Tracks:

  1. Portrait of Bert Williams
  2. Blue Goose
  3. Harlem Air Shaft
  4. At a Dixie Roadside Diner
  5. All Too Soon
  6. Rumpus in Richmond
  7. My Greatest Mistake
  8. Sepia Panorama
  9. There Shall Be No Night
  10. In a Mellow Tone
  11. Five O'Clock Whistle
  12. Flaming Sword
  13. Warm Valley
  14. Across the Track Blues
  15. Chloe
  16. I Never Felt This Way Before
  17. Without a Song - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  18. My Sunday Gal - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  19. Mobile Bay - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  20. Linger Awhile - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  21. Charlie the Chulo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  22. Lament for Javanette - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster

Tracks:

  1. Lull at Dawn
  2. Ready Eddy
  3. Sidewalks of New York - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. Flamingo - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  5. Girl in My Dreams Tries to Look Like You - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  6. Take the "A" Train
  7. Jumpin' Punkins
  8. John Hardy's Wife
  9. Blue Serge
  10. After All
  11. Bakiff
  12. Are You Sticking?
  13. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
  14. Giddybug Gallop
  15. Chocolate Shake
  16. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
  17. Clementine
  18. Brown-Skin Gal (In the Calico Gown)
  19. Jump for Joy
  20. Moon Over Cuba
  21. Some Saturday - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  22. Subtle Slough - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster

Tracks:

  1. Menelik: The Lion of Judah
  2. Poor Bubber
  3. Five O'Clock Drag - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  4. Rocks in My Bed - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  5. Bli-Blip - Jimmy Blanton, Duke Ellington, Ben Webster
  6. Rain Check
  7. What Good Would It Do?
  8. I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I Got
  9. Chelsea Bridge
  10. Perdido
  11. C Jam Blues
  12. Moon Mist
  13. What Am I Here For?
  14. I Don't Mind
  15. Someone
  16. My Little Brown Book
  17. Main Stem
  18. Johnny Come Lately
  19. Hayfoot, Strawfoot
  20. Sentimental Lady
  21. Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship) - Mercer Ellington
  22. Sherman Shuffle

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars Piracy.......2006-03-04

This is a old pirate edition, burned over from the now deleted RCA Victor Blanton-Webster Band set from 1940 to 1942. The six or so additional sides from the Thirties, featuring a Ben Webster who had not quite reached his musical maturity yet, may have been taken from the appropriate Chronogical Classics assemblages. The sound, starting from an already poor original in the clumsily noise-reduced RCA Victor product, has been worsened by some sort of primitive de-clicking system. Liner notes, by someone identified on this and other bootlegs produced by "Definitive" as "Calvados", have nothing to do with these sessions and are merely a write-up on Duke such as one might expect to find in a middle-schooler's report on "Ten Important African Americans".
"Never no lament", the recent re-issue by BMG (now Sony/BMG) feature enormously improved sound quality, plus several alternate takes (not many survived from these sessions). Pakaging is rather shoddy, but otherwise it is an excellent product. It is my opinion that enthusiasts of jazz music should buy from copyright holders when they have made a serious effort to keep this music alive, and eschew "re-issues" that merely duplicate such efforts. "Definitive" is a mere parasite on American music. None of their products are anything more than plain rip-offs from legitimate outfits, both original copyright holders and re-issue labels which have filled in the gap which some companies have chosen to ignore.

5 out of 5 stars Fantastic CD's of a Fantastic Ellington Band.......2002-12-31

I have both this set and the more common RCA "Blanton-Webster Band" version of this peak Ellington band (The RCA set was issued on October 25, 1990, ASIN: B000003EO4). The Definitive Records set is much better than the RCA version.

The RCA version over-uses noise reduction to the point that the sound is muffled and bland. RCA should really be ashamed. What they should do is reissue the set using the excellent remastering that was employed for their massive Centennial box set (they did this with their "Mid-Forties" box set, which I love).

Definitive Records is located in Spain, but they easily ship to the USA or anywhere else. You can find them by plugging their name into your favorite web search engine. In this case, "Definitive" is the "Definitive" version of Ellington's Blanton-Webster years - avoid the current RCA version (which has a black cover and a sketch of Ellington). The sound is vibrant and clear - without noticeable hissing or popping.

4 out of 5 stars Great music but not always the best sound quality.......2002-07-12

Definitive, based in Andorra (I think) with discs manufactured in Spain, is one of the reissue labels which has taken advantage of the lapse of copyright to remaster and re-release older jazz (and other) music. It's one of the cheapest, but not necessarily the best. "Chronogical [sic] Classics", "Jazz Archives", "JSP", "Robert Parker's Jazz Classics", "Jazz Masters" are among the others.
Some of the 78's used for the Blanton-Webster project were not of the best quality. Remastering was not in the same league with some of the lines mentioned above. In some cases, it sounds like the engineer jerked the needle off the record before the last chord had faded. Liner notes are not so great: the essay on Duke is generic without much bearing on these sessions in particular and the 78's are not identified.
I'd recommend the 3-CD set for the actual Blanton-Webster session ('40 - '41) issued by RCA-Victor, who recorded these sessions in the first place. RCA-Victor used to take a lot of heat for the sound quality of their reissues, including these sessions, but there seems to be general agreement that recent issues are much improved. You won't get the Columbia sessions (which don't feature Jimmy Blanton anyway), but those are available on some other reissue labels and perhaps from one or another Columbia set.
The sound quality on these CD's is certainly adequate to communicate what the Ellington orchestra was doing, but better is available.
And should Definitive (or the other reissue labels) be re-issuing music that the originating label (or its descendent, in this case BMG) has continued to make available over the years?
(...)

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