Tracklist

1-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Diminuendo In Blue & Blow By Blow
1-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Caravan
1-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Rose Of The Rio Grande
1-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Tutti For Cootie
1-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Skin Deep
1-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Passion Flower
1-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Thing Ain0t What They Used To Be
1-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Wings And Things
1-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Star-Crossed Lovers
1-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Such Sweet Thunder
1-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Madness In Great Ones
1-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Kinda Dukish / Rockin' In Rhythm
1-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Things Ain't What They Used To Be
2-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Main Stem
2-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Black And Tan Fantasy / Creole Love Call / The Mooche
2-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	West Indian Pancake
2-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	El Viti
2-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Opener
2-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	La Plus Belle Africane
2-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Azure
2-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Duke Ellington Introduces Ella Fitzgerald
2-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love
2-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Satin Doll
2-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Cotton Tail
2-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Take The A Train
3-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Take The A Train
3-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Such Sweet Thunder
3-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Half The Fun
3-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Madness In Great Ones
3-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Star-Crossed Lovers
3-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
3-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Things Ain't What They Used To Be
3-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Wings And Things
3-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Kinda Dukish / Rockin' In Rhythm
3-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Chelsea Bridge
3-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Skin Deep
3-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Sophisticated Lady
3-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Jam With Sam
3-14	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Things Ain't What They Used To Be
4-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Soul Call
4-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	West Indian Pancake
4-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	El Viti
4-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Opener
4-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	La Plus Belle Africane
4-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Take The A Train
4-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Trombonio-Bustoso-Issimo
4-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Such Sweet Thunder
4-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Half The Fun
4-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Madness In Great Ones
4-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Star Crossed Lovers
4-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Prelude To A Kiss
4-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Things Ain't What They Used To Be
5-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
5-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Thou Swell
5-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Satin Doll
5-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Wives And Lovers
5-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Something To Live For
5-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love
5-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	The More I See You
5-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Goin' Out Of My Head
5-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Só Danço Samba
5-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Lullaby Of Birdland
5-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	How Long Has This Been Going On?
5-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Mack The Knife
6-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Black And Tan Fantasy/Creole Love Call/The Mooche
6-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Soul Call
6-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	West Indian Pancake
6-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	El Viti
6-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	La Plus Nelle Africane
6-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Such Sweet Thunder
6-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Half The Fun
6-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Madness In Great Ones
6-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Star Crossed Lovers
6-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Wings And Things
6-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Things Ain't What They Used To Be
6-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Thou Swell
6-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Satin Doll
6-14	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Wives And Lovers
6-15	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Something To Live For
6-16	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love )
7-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Sweet Georgia Brown
7-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Goin' Out Of My Head
7-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Só Danço Samba
7-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Lullaby Of Birdland
7-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Moment Of Truth
7-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Misty
7-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Mack The Knife
7-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra With Ella Fitzgerald	Cotton Tail
7-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Trip
7-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Juve Jam
7-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	All Too Soon
7-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
7-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	I Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
7-14	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)
8-1	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-2	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-3	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-4	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-5	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-6	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-7	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-8	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Blue Fuse Nº 2
8-9	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Blue Fuse Nº 2
8-10	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Blue Fuse Nº 1
8-11	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Blue Fuse Nº 1
8-12	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Blue Fuse Nº 1
8-13	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Shepherd
8-14	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-15	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
8-16	–Duke Ellington And His Orchestra	Tingling Is A Happiness

Notes

This eight-CD set is a sleek affair, packaged in a plain-Jane, silver-ribbed box with just a peephole in the center. The peephole, though, looks in on the fluorescent jewel cases, each of which faithfully reproduces fantastic Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald sets from July 1966 at France's Cote d'Azur. The Ellington tunes show his orchestra in long form, taking multiple sets (with some tune repetition across the CDs) and thriving in Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's tightly scripted ensemble sections. This is some fairly standard Ellington for the era, with hard-flying solos from Paul Gonsalves and myriad others. What's great is the ability to really dig in to the band, hear it work, set after set, on the tunes and the polyphonic interplay of the ensemble's sections. And then there's the eighth CD, which presents a band rehearsal with Ellington doing what drove some mad: humming sections to instruct the band, calling out key changes quickly and sounding altogether like a practitioner of an oral tradition in musical pedagogy. It's awesome to hear him and the band, banter and all. Then there are the Ella Fitzgerald sets, which are possibly the better portion here. Fitzgerald sounds mightily driven, sometimes almost boundary breaking in her execution. Vocally, she's both tight and loose, brimming with turns of phrase and belting lyrics with popping exactness. The dates caught on this box aren't regarded as the greatest for either of the marquee artists, but in terms of the sheer quality of music and their fullness of vision, Fitzgerald's tunes vie with anything else she did in her career. Sure, many of the tunes are fast and jumping, but their propulsion is largely thanks to Fitzgerald's heightened sense of play. The spiral-bound booklet accompanying this box set is a treat, with all its pop-art slyness and off-the-cuff frankness. --Andrew Bartlett