Track Listing

1. Overture
2. Toot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)
3. Peanut Brittle Brigade [March]
4. Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)
5. Entr'acte
6. Volga Vouty (Russian Dance)
7. Chinoiserie (Chinese Dance)
8. Dance of the Floreadores (Waltz of the Flowers)
9. Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance)
10. Morning Mood
11. In the Hall of the Mountain King
12. Solvejg's Song
13. Ase's Death
14. Anitra's Dance
15. Misfit Blues
16. Schwiphti
17. Zweet Zurzday
18. Lay-By

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68941 in Music
• Released on: 1990-09-07
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Exquisite and Extremely Essential Ellington
As gratifying as it is to see Duke Ellington receiving his due (and I recall many arguments with musicians back in the 70s about Ellington's being a "sloppy," "inferior" band compared to Kenton, Maynard, Basie), it appears that many listeners still don't "get it" when it comes to jazz' greatest Maestro. I notice that the top 8 best-selling Ellington albums are collections of his piano playing or "greatest hits" (Satin Doll, A Train, etc.). But Ellington's genius is best appreciated in his orchestral compositions, his balancing of the composer's intentions with his band members' inventions, and his ability to write for the performer of the instrument, not merely the instrument itself.

Take one brief movement of The Nutcracker Suite--the "Entr'act." Listen to it several times, and then just simply marvel. We hear the composer's orchestral textures, we hear the colorful voices of no less than 4 different soloists, we hear nuanced dynamics, and finally we experience a collaborative celebration as much a product of the individual parts as their sum meaning. And all of this occurs in approximately 60 seconds! Now compare what you've just heard to the formulaic, 3-section, 2-dimensional dyanamics that characterize virtually any other big band.

This collection is not only indispensable but an unbeatable value. The order of the 3 suites--Nutcracker, Peer Gynt, Suite Thursday--probably reflects their order of artistic merit. What's unfortunate about this edition is that consumers searching for Ellington's "Nutcracker" may not locate it due to the unlikely title, "Three Suites." But make no mistake about it. This Nutcracker is no novelty project, no mere "jazzing up" of the classics. Ellington comes at the piece as another jazz artist might approach a Gershwin or Cole Porter standard. The result is a "re-visioning" that exposes Ellington's inimitable genius without dismissing Tchaikowsky's.

Twinkles like lights on a string & the stars in the sky
Every year after Thanksgiving, this is one of the very first Christmas albums I play to put me in the spirit. (This year it went on second only to Johnny Mathis.) His "Nutcracker Suite" is NOT just some "jazzin' the classics" campy fun: a theme, some swinging solos, return to theme, and out. No, nothing of the kind. Ellington & Strayhorn carefully imagined these sophisticated arrangements that remain quite faithful to Tchaikovsky's music, but they bring out the most evocative, new colors and rhythms in the music so you feel just like you're hearing the originals in a whole new light.

The five samples Amazon currently provides will give a good flavor of what's happening--"Sugar Rum Cherry" is a particular favorite--but I think the program really peaks with the last few pieces of the suite. "Arabesque Cookie" and "Chinoiserie" are truly sublime.

The "Peer Gynt" and "Suite Thursday" sections may be of less interest--but, honestly, who cares? You're going to get this, and love it, because of "The Nutcracker Suite." Those nine tracks by themselves are worth every penny. I hope that someday soon Sony will redesign the cover and print THE NUTCRACKER prominently on the front, so that more holiday shoppers will be drawn to the disc. Not only is this "Nutcracker" one of my most favorite holiday recordings, but I think it's one of the best things Ellington & Strayhorn ever did. I wish everyone could hear it.

Genius of the Duke
This is an astonishingly beautiful collection. What Ellington does with Tchaikovsky and Grieg is truly a work of genius. An understated effort; this album is so fluidly listenable, that it requires repeated listening to fully appreciate the subtleties of these very sophisticated arrangements. But as complex as the Duke's harmonic approach is, the real star of this show is the beauty of the music itself. Anyone with an appreciation for the music of Ellington cannot go wrong with this swinging, jazzy, georgeous album.