“Ellington Uptown” by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1953Album Chart of the Decade: 1950s

TJR says

Opens badly with “Skin Deep” as "mega-drummer" Louis Bellson gives it laldy… what a yawn-a-thon. Immediately, “The Mooche” recovers things brilliantly – it’s a slow swing creeper for pink panthers everywhere. Duke revisits his 1941 piece “Take The A Train” and I find that Betty Roche’s scatty shooby doops are not without some charm. “A Tone Parallel To Harlem (Harlem Suite)” is the album’s heart and soul – what can only be described as a soundtrack to an eventful, slightly surreal, 13 minute adventure dream. The album closes with “Perdido”, the closest the album gets to a bit of dance hall boogie woogie. I don’t dig jazz man – ain’t no big secret. But this ain’t too bad. Sometimes, I kinda feel this cat…

The Jukebox Rebel
15–Jun–2012

Tracklist
A1 [06:49] 2.3.png Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - Skin Deep [1952 version] (Louis Bellson) Jazz
A2 [06:36] 7.6.png Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - The Mooche (Edward Ellington, Irving Mills) Jazz
A3 [08:02] 5.2.png Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - Take The "A" Train [1952 version] (Billy Strayhorn) Jazz
B1 [13:48] 6.8.png Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - A Tone Parallel To Harlem (Harlem Suite) (Edward Ellington) Jazz
B2 [08:25] 4.7.png Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - Perdido (Juan Tizol) Jazz

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