Duke Ellington / Charles Mingus / Max Roach - Money Jungle [New CD] Money Jungle

Duke Ellington / Charles Mingus / Max Roach - Money Jungle [New CD] Money Jungle

5 STARS DONWBEAT MAGAZINE   -   4 1/2 STARS ALL MUSIC GUIDE

INCLUDES 3 BONUS TRACKS

This release presents the complete original album Money Jungle (United Artists UAS 15017), which was the only trio collaboration of Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Both youngsters greatly admired Duke. Ellington himself briefly featured Roach in his band during the early 1950s, and expressed on multiple occasions his appreciation for Mingus’ compositions. Most of the repertoire here was especially composed for the date, while the only old tunes they recorded were “Warm Valley”, “Caravan”, and “Solitude”.

As a bonus, this edition also offers for comparison, studio orchestral versions of the latter two songs performed by the Ellington band.

PERSONNEL:

DUKE ELLINGTON,  piano
CHARLES MINGUS, bass
MAX ROACH, drums

New York, September 17, 1962.
Original recordings produced by Alan Douglas.

*BONUS TRACKS
(Duke Ellington & His Orchestra):
(13) New York, October 14, 1957.
(14) New York, December 18, 1950.
(15)  New York, May 1, 1962.

INCLUDES 12 PAGE BOOKLET

TRACKS:

01 MONEY JUNGLE 5:31
02 FLEURETTE AFRICAINE 3:35
03 VERY SPECIAL 4:26
04 WARM VALLEY 3:32
05 WIG WISE 3:21
06 CARAVAN 4:13
07 SOLITUDE 5:33
08 SWITCH BLADE 5:24
09 A LITTLE MAX (PARFAIT) 3:00
10 REM BLUES 4:18
11 BACKWARD COUNTRY BOY BLUES 6:33
12 SOLITUDE [alt tk] 4:45
13 SOLITUDE [orchestral version 1] 4:43* 14 SOLITUDE [orchestral version 2] 8:27* 15 CARAVAN [orchestral version] 6:08*

TOTAL TIME  73:35
All compositions by DUKE ELLINGTON except “Caravan” (Juan Tizol-Duke Ellington) and “Solitude” (Duke Ellington-Eddie De Lange).

DOWN BEAT ORIGINAL REVIEW: “Duke Ellington continues to be a most unpredictable and amazing musician. This album is astonishing –this is Ellington the soloist in some of the fastest company around. I’ve never heard Ellington play as he does on this album; Mingus and Roach, especially Mingus, push him so strongly that one can almost hear Ellington show them who’s the boss –and he dominates both of them, which is no mean accomplishment. Like I said, Duke Ellington is an amazing musician.” (Don DeMicheal)

ALL MUSIC GUIDE ORIGINAL REVIEW: “Duke Ellington surprised the jazz world in 1962 with his historic trio session featuring Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Not in a mood to simply rework older compositions, the bulk of the LP focused on music he wrote specifically for the session. Every jazz fan should own a copy of this sensational recording session.” (Ken Dryden)