Duke's Place - A multipurpose Duke Ellington Thread

Steve,
Thanks for the 78 history lesson. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to 78's so the info is appreciated. Even on Youtube (through my good stereo) the magic of a good clean 78 comes across. What a sound!
So how many Ellington Victor scrolls were there, anyway?

The Mooche 78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVrIYpty4YA


I'm sure this clip has been linked on the forum before but It's really cool to see the process of Duke and Co. making a record.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKlFFp4-IE

 

I picked up a nice copy of The Ellington Era (1927-1940) - Volume 1 (Columbia C3L 27 Mono 2 eye) a couple of weeks ago and I'm really liking it. There is a ton of great Brunswick and Columbia songs on it and the sound is pretty decent overall.

I bought it for $9, $5 for the purchase and $4 shipping, a fantastic value considering the sound quality.

 

Quality collection with some lesser known '30s material... I really love "Ducky Wucky" and "Drop Me Off At Harlem" (apparently the correct title).

Volume 2 covers the same period, and has even more unusual selections, though just as good.

 

All the more surprising considering he's playing it on one of those el crappo Vestax record players with a generic needle and built in speaker.

I question how he could wring that much sound out of a thing like that, unless the video was overlaid from another audio source...

(Without clogging up a Duke Ellington thread on discussions of 78 rpm playback equipment.)

 

I feel fortunate to have a few original Victors, batwing/scroll labels, "VE" stamped:

21703 - East Saint Louis Toddle-Oo/Got Everything But You
22587 - Mood Indigo/When A Black Man's Blue
24755 - Solitude/Delta Serenade

Haven't listened to these in a while, I need to upgrade my 78 rpm setup, not adequate right now. They were very inexpensive; in fact one of them was free.

 

I've been looking for a good copy of East Saint Louis Toodle-OO, right now my go to copy is the Steely Dan version.

 

My favorite version among his many recordings of it is the first version on the OKeh label. It's eerie, primal Jazz Age. Speaking in terms of convenience not sound quality, it's on The OKeh Ellington, which although NoNoised etc is a swell set musically, and the more recent Essential Ellington set. These ought to be easily available and cheap. There probably (hopefully anyway) is a better sounding CD but I haven't personally heard others yet to say.

 

It's also on the Masters of Jazz complete edition, Vol. 1.

 

The series you mentioned before (thank you for that informative post). Was this volume (thus this track) mastered by John R.T. Davies or just the discs you specified, and if not, do you believe it sounds better than The OKeh Ellington and Essential Ellington sets?

 

Only Vols. 9, 10, and 11 were mastered by Davies. The other volumes credit Charles Eddi for transfers and Francois Terrazzoni for mastering.

As for the sound, there is no NR, so I would favor it over The Okeh Ellington. I haven't yet heard the Essential Ellington set - but due to the recommendations in this thread, I have it on order! I can report back once I've heard it.

Collecting the Masters of Jazz series would be a bit of a challenge today. The set was issued in France in the '90s and has been out of print for years. Some volumes can be found on Amazon Marketplace, but not cheap. French sources would be better. Or PM me - perhaps I can help.

 

Thanks for that info... I have Volumes 1-6 (November 1924 - March 1929), and find the mastering on those consistently decent, but not outstanding.

For that same period, I've preferred the sound on Hot 'n' Sweet/Epm CDs. Beginning with Volume 3 ('Black Beauty' 1927-1928), these claim to be "Directly transferred from original 78 rpm and from original metal parts." That the first two volumes don't claim this actually lends some credence, as Duke's first few releases (on the Blue Disc label in 1924) are extremely rare, sometimes only one or two originals known to exist.

 

Was the Masters of Jazz series done first on LP and then later on CD?

 

This is Duke Ellington lp

Received my "This is Duke Ellington" LP set (RCA Dynaflex 1971) today. Near mint off ebay for $10 shipped.

I'm happy! What a collection of tunes (duh) and great sound for the most part. Love hearing the early Duke on vinyl. Thanks to Steve and the others for the recommendation.

A couple of notes from this lp set...

Ivie Anderson just slays me on "I've got it bad..." I may need to seek out more Ivy. She seems to be the one Ellington vocalist I never mind hearing.
Any recommendations?

Bing Crosby is one of the Rhythm Boys on vocals on "Three Little Words" from 1930. Who knew?

The LP was remastered by Don Miller. Good job Don

Oh yeah, East St Louis Toodle-oo (1927) sounds just fine here.

 

What are the sonic differences between the Masters of Jazz and Hot 'n' Sweet/Epm Ellington series (bearing in mind that these recordings are 80+ years old, of course)?

 

There are so many variables with these sets, you know: early recordings for different labels, various pressings used as sources, their condition, transfers, mastering, equipment used for listening, personal preference, etc...

November 1924 - February 1929: generally, Hot 'n' Sweet (which is really a series, the label is Epm) has more definition and clarity, yet without sounding too bright. Masters of Jazz is a bit more hazy, very listenable, just seems to lack some definition. This is based on comparison between Hot 'n' Sweet 1-5 and Masters Of Jazz 1-6 ... and all in my opinion, of course.

Hot 'n' Sweet Volumes 10, 11 and 12 use Cedar--these sound harder and more brittle than the earlier volumes.

On a previous page, I learned that John R.T. Davies mastered Volumes 9, 10, and 11 of Masters of Jazz--so these would seem much preferable to the corresponding Hot 'n' Sweet volumes. I wasn't aware Volume 11 even existed; some of the later Masters of Jazz complete edition titles are quite rare.

There is one alternative take not included in either set: "Tishomingo Blues" (E27772-B) originally released on Brunswick 3987 (Canada). It appears on the JRT Davies mastered CD 'A Gift From The President' (Jazz Oracle BDW8047), amazing sounding collection of rarities by various artists.

 

I found out last night that on Masters of Jazz Vol 11 (Aug-Oct 1930) Davies did the transfers but the actual mastering is by Christophe Henault, Studio Dante.

Sound is very good (maybe a little on the bright side). Certainly great clarity and great bass on the "Mood Indigo" included here.

 

I don't like the sound of the best of disc extracted from the 24 CD Complete RCA Victor Recordings box.

Too much CEDAR on the disc sources, and even the tape based songs sound oddly thinned out and heavily subjected to noise reduction. If it's representative of the box as a whole, it's not one to buy for sound.

 

Can someone post a pic of the cover from one of the Masters of Jazz series.

Are the French import series of Duke on Columbia LPs good?

 

Here's the cd cover vol. 11
Not sure about the LPs.

 

Thanks, I'll keep my eyes peeled for these....

 

I got the Essential Ellington set (EE), and compared the 22 March 1927 recording of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" to the same recording on Volume 2 of the Masters of Jazz series (MOJ).

A comparison of waveforms reveals that EE has less dynamic range than MOJ. Listening bears out this difference. On EE, the trumpet and trombone solos are more "squashed down" into the mix, and consequently less exciting, IMO. On MOJ, the horn solos "stand out" more, giving the recording a more natural sense of space.

Also, EE is missing top end compared to MOJ. MOJ has, if anything, too much treble, suggesting that a top end boost has been applied in mastering.

Altogether, EE sounds compressed and NR'd. MOJ is more natural sounding, the only flaw being the possibly boosted treble. Overall, I'd give the nod to MOJ.

 

Thanks for getting back on this.

 

One of my favorite Duke LPs remains 'The Cosmic Scene' (1958) by Duke Ellington's Spacemen... another of countless Ellington records which seem to change with every listen. The track "Spacemen" is a standout for me... sprightly boppish performance.

Instrumentation: trumpet or flugelhorn/3 trombones/clarinet/tenor sax/piano/bass/drums.

For the Mosaic CD (MCD-1001), the album was remixed in stereo from the original 3 track tapes... hi-fi, yet I find the high end sometimes a bit hard on the ears. I tend to favor the mono European CD (CBS 467179 2) in the 'I Love Jazz' series, unfortunately not so easy to find. I'm thankful to have a French LP (CBS 84407) reissue; although in truth it sounds just relatively OK.