Duke Ellington~The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse

and then came Duke

to spice the world...

At this point-1971- Duke Ellington was jazz's oldest survivor
 but he himself didn't feel like it

-still insisting his best numbers were "the ones coming up tomorrow".

Well here tomorrow arrived and
the influence of African and Oriental styles and rhythms are integrated into
 this eight-part suite-Duke's shinning moment!

The opening "Chinoserie" is perhapes best of all-an extended piece
that blends Ellington's usual big-band swing approch with a very carnavalesqe
avante-garde rhythm similar to "The Creator has A Master Plan"."
Didjidoo",based on Duke's experience with the
native Aboriginal people of Austrailia is (in retrospect) quite
funky with it's use of polyrhythms and scaling horns.Most delightful though
 is "Acht O' Clock Rock"-basically a simple 3-chord extension
of Louis Jordan/Little Richard-style rock n' roll
done up big band style.So pretty much he brings many of the more
popular musical styles of the early 70's-afro jazz,funk and rock
into his world of Ellingtonia and much good spirits will be felt by all!

Maybe Ellingtons most important work
and certainly the  most significant of his latter years.

 an amazonian  wrote



Duke Ellington – piano
Mercer Ellington, Money Johnson, Eddie Preston, Cootie Williams - trumpet
Malcolm Taylor, Booty Wood - trombone
Chuck Connors - bass trombone
Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet
Norris Turney - clarinet, alto saxophone, flute
Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone
Harry Carney - baritone saxophone
Joe Benjamin - bass
Rufus Jones - drums

eclipse

(:)     

."Music is how I live, why I live and how I will be remembered."

D.E.