Track Listing

1. Battle Royal
2. To You
3. Take the "A" Train
4. Corner Pocket (AKA Until I Met You)
5. Wild Man (AKA Wild Man Moore)
6. Segue in C
7. B D B
8. Jumpin' at the Woodside

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28790 in Music
• Brand: Ellington
• Released on: 2008-02-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
The two greatest big bands in jazz history side by side on your headphones: What can be more glorious? If, as Billy Strayhorn said, Duke Ellington's band was his instrument, then this 1961 session finds Ellington and Count Basie "trading fours," as it were. The composer credits and solo space are divided democratically, to say the least--four songs from Duke's camp, four from Basie's. The sparring between soloists of both bands is a pure delight, especially the gentle conversations between the two leaders-pianists, who finish each other's thoughts as if all four hands were attached to one unified torso. Highlights include two engaging new Duke compositions--the blistering opener "Battle Royal" and the impulsive "Wild Man"--and the closing Basie chestnut "Jumpin' at the Woodside," on which the lead tenors Frank Foster and Paul Gonsalves engage in ferocious dueling. Amazingly, there is no toe-stepping amid the rousing interplay. --Marc Greilsamer

Amazon.com
Take the Kansas City-style streamlined swing of Count Basie's band and put it together with the omni-American "total jazz" of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and you've got one memorable session. Recorded in 1961 and reissued with unreleased, rehearsal, and alternate takes, the date has a friendly after-hours feel, with the Ellington crew in the right channel and the Basie band in the left. They both deliver the type of no-nonsense straight-ahead jazz that characterized the best of the big-band sound: Ellington's brisk 4/4 opener "Battle Royal" features some stratospheric blowing by tenor saxophonist Frank Wess and trumpeter Cat Anderson along with a volcanic drum "conversation" between Sam Woodyard and Sonny Payne. The sound of the locomotive drives the midtempo "Corner Pocket," the Basie-associated standard by guitarist Freddie Green, steered by saxophonist Paul Gonsalves's robust tenor sax. "Segue in C" showcases Ellington and Basie's Fats Waller-Willie "the Lion" Smith stride-piano roots, with the former's dark chord clusters and the latter's feathery in-the-pocket phrasing. The ballad "To You" is marked by cascading horn harmonies laced with Ellington trombonist Quentin "Butter" Jackson's pleading muted solo. The Basie-Ellington hits "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and "Take the 'A' Train"--with composer Billy Strayhorn tickling the ivories in place of Basie--bring out the best in Basie, Foster, Gonsalves, and trumpeter Ray Nance, and they trade fours and cap this amazing encounter. --Eugene Holley Jr.