Search results for "Sonny Greer"

Duke Ellington (featuring Sonny Greer): Ko-Ko (live 1940) (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music October 23, 08

While Sonny Greer was sometimes described as a casual or erratic timekeeper, he was also known as a subtle and d...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: TWELVE SONNYS OF JAZZ

Jazz Quiz: What do these names have in common? Saul Berman Herman Blount Conrad Yeatis Clark William Criss C...

Ben Webster & Billy Strayhorn: Chelsea Bridge (Rating: 91/100) posted in Music April 17, 08

In his autobiography, Music is My Mistress (1973), Duke Ellington fondly recalls that in 1933, London became the firs...

Duke Ellington: Across the Track Blues (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music January 12, 09

As the premier bandleader of the 20th century, Duke didn’t really need to maintain the stride abilities he acquired a...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: ETHAN IVERSON ON STRIDE PIANO

Editor's Note: Music fans, jazz-oriented or otherwise, may know Ethan Iverson solely as the pianist in The Bad Plus—t...

Duke Ellington: Limehouse Blues (Rating: 92/100) posted in Music September 15, 09

"Limehouse Blues" is not a blues, but it was inspired by the London neighborhood. When Duke Ellington recorded the so...

Duke Ellington: Harlem Air Shaft (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music May 17, 08

This composition may not be as well known as "Satin Doll" or "Mood Indigo," but make no mistake about it: this is one...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: HARLEM

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Duke Ellington: Black and Tan Fantasy (Victor) (Rating: 91/100) posted in Music January 20, 08

The second of Ellington's three 1927 "Black and Tan Fantasy" recordings disproves the adage that the Third Time'...

Duke Ellington: Black and Tan Fantasy (Brunswick) (Rating: 87/100) posted in Music October 22, 07

A timeless classic of early big-band jazz, this was perhaps the first Ellington tune to really capture the ears of th...

Duke Ellington (featuring Al Hibbler): Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Rating: 92/100) posted in Music September 16, 09

As most Ellington fans know, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" was the pop song version of Duke's 1940 instrumental "Ne...

Duke Ellington: East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (OKeh) (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music October 19, 07

The quintessential document of Duke’s "jungle music," this 1927 theme was so letter-perfect that Steely Dan paid it g...

Duke Ellington: Caravan (1937) (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music October 24, 07

Ellington’s early contribution to the Latin jazz canon is a collaboration with valve trombonist Juan Tizol. “Caravan...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: TWELVE LATIN JAZZ CLASSICS

         Percussionist,  artwork by Suzanne Cerny Editor's n...

Duke Ellington: Jungle Nights in Harlem (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music November 05, 07

"The grotesque spectacle of Harlem nightclubs for all-white audiences," historian Ted Gioia believes, "served to miti...

Duke Ellington: Mood Indigo (1930) (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music November 06, 07

Duke Ellington, photo by Herb Snitzer "Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand musicians and make a dra...

Duke Ellington: Black, Brown and Beige (live 1943) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 09, 07

Preserving Duke's Carnegie Hall debut (attended by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, no less), this 3-part, 45-minute mas...

Duke Ellington: Cocktails for Two (Rating: 83/100) posted in Music November 20, 07

Among Duke Ellington's 7 singles and 2 albums enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame, the 2007 choice is least explicab...

Duke Ellington: Caravan (1936) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 21, 07

Duke Ellington's first "Caravan" set off from Hollywood five months before his better-known 1937 big-band excursion ...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: JAZZ EXOTICA

Exotica is armchair tourism. We experience foreign strangeness without the hassles of leaving home. No passports, imm...

Duke Ellington: Flamingo (Rating: 94/100) posted in Music November 23, 07

In 1940, the star of such Westerns with a black hero as Bronze Buckaroo (1938) and Harlem Rides the Range (1939)...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: JAZZ FOR THE BIRDS

It's only fitting. Since birds inspire us with their songs, composers return the favor, dedicating music in every gen...

Duke Ellington: Mood Indigo (1950) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 23, 07

The advent of the long-playing record finally released Duke Ellington from the time constraints that had previously f...

Duke Ellington: The Tattooed Bride (Rating: 96/100) posted in Music November 24, 07

Ellington was ahead of his time, and not just for preferring his brides with tattoos. This extended piece, premiered...

Duke Ellington: Black and Tan Fantasy (OKeh) (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music November 24, 07

Ellington's growing musical maturity from the 1920s through the 1940s is one of the most remarkable stories in the hi...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: HARLEM

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Duke Ellington (featuring Bubber Miley): The Mooche (Rating: 96/100) posted in Music November 26, 07

Duke Ellington once described Bubber Miley as "the epitome of soul and a master of the plunger mute." In time, M...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: TWELVE TRUMPETERS YOU NEED TO KNOW ON A FIRST NAME BASIS

We all know about Dizzy & Miles, Louis & Wynton, Bix & Brownie. Some trumpeters are so famous, that even a single na...

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