Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown / Liberian Suite / Masterpieces (NEW CD)

Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown / Liberian Suite / Masterpieces (NEW CD)

• 3 COMPLETE ORIGINAL ALBUM ON 2-CD SET

• INCLUDES 6 BONUS TRACKS

• 20-PAGE BOOKLET

This release compiles, for the first time ever on a single set, all existing material from the sessions that produced the classic Duke Ellington albums Ellington Uptown (Columbia ML4639/CL830), The Liberian Suite (Columbia CL848), and Masterpieces by Ellington (Columbia ML4418). Ellington Uptown was originally issued in two different versions, the first one containing “The Harlem Suite”, and the second one replacing it with “The Controversial Suite”. To add to the confusion, “The Liberian Suite”, first issued on a 10” LP, was later presented on a 12” album coupled with “The Harlem Suite”.

All of these materials are include here, plus a song (“Come on Home”) that completes the Ellington Uptown sessions, and four rare alternate takes from the “Liberian Suite” taped during the same session as the masters. To round out this set, CD2 also presents Ellington’s earliest version of “The Tattooed Bride”, taped live at Carnegie Hall in 1948, which is very interesting to compare with the one on Masterpieces by Ellngton.

PERSONNEL:

• DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

• Collective personnel:
• Cat Anderson, Clark Terry, Willie Cook (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vcl), Lawrence Brown, Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, Juan Tizol (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (as, cl), Willie Smith (as), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bar, cl,b-cl), Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Louie Bellson, Sonny Greer (d), among others.

Recorded in New York, between 1947 & 1952.

TRACKS:

• CD 1 (79:16 Min.)
• 01 SKIN DEEP
• 02 THE MOOCHE
• 03 TAKE THE “A” TRAIN
• 04 PERDIDO
• 05 THE CONTROVERSIAL SUITE PART 1 (Before My Time)
• 06 THE CONTROVERSIAL SUITE PART 2 (Later)
• 07 A TONE PARALLEL TO HARLEM (THE HARLEM SUITE)
• 08 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: I LIKE THE SUNRISE
• 09 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #1
• 10 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #2
• 11 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #3
• 12 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #4
• 13 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #5

• CD 2 (8:35 Min.)
• 01 MOOD INDIGO
• 02 SOPHISTICATED LADY
• 03 THE TATTOOED BRIDE
• 04 SOLITUDE
• 05 THE TATTOOED BRIDE [Live at Carnegie Hall] (*)
• 06 COME ON HOME (*)
• 07 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: I LIKE THE SUNRISE [instrumental V-Disc alternate take] (*)
• 08 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: I LIKE THE SUNRISE [vocal alternate take] (*)
• 09 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #1 [alternate take] (*)
• 10 THE LIBERIAN SUITE: DANCE #3 [incomplete take] (*)