- Audio CD
- Number of Discs: 1
- ASIN: B000002WSK
- Other Editions: Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 162,359 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Much of Duke Ellington's work is tough to get your head around, but perhaps none more so than the ambitious and appropriately exotic Far East Suite. Inspired by a 1963 State Department tour of the Middle East and a subsequent visit to Japan, this Ellington-Billy Strayhorn collaboration deftly blends not only the music of the East but the mindset of the East with established jazz concepts. "Tourist Point of View" is an unsettled number handled cautiously by tenor player Paul Gonsalves. Altoist Johnny Hodges dances gingerly and exquisitely on eggshells during the beautiful "Isfahan" (recorded on the first take) before crushing those eggshells on "Blue Pepper", one of the Duke's funkiest pieces. Jimmy Hamilton's whirling clarinet leads the sprite dance number "Depk", while Harry Carney's stately baritone distinguishes "Agra". The urgent "Amad" is fuelled by Ellington's forceful keyboard statements before "Ad Lib on Nippon" offers Duke the rare opportunity to stretch out. The four alternate takes and absolutely sterling remix make the CD reissue an inspired musical and sonic package. --Marc Greilsamer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although less well-known than Ellington's Blanton-Webster Band, Newport or the New Orleans Suite, the Far East Suite now stands as a masterwork of awesome compositional scope and tonal depth.
Three years after an extended tour of South Asia and the Middle East, Ellington and Strayhorn composed their final extended work together (Strayhorn was to die five months later). The maturity, skill and inspiration of the band elevates these compositions into realms rarely charted.
Jimmy Hamilton's performance on "Bluebird of Delhi (Mynah)" is of an exquisite tenderness, and is matched only by the sublime, hypnotic alto saxophone of the great Johnny Hodges on the following piece, "Isfahan".
Ellington's piano majestically introduces the stunning "Mount Harissa", punctuated at first with an airy lightness by Rufus Jones' drums and cymbals and later with urgent rolls, gradually building up to an undulating tenor solo from Paul Gonsalves over an orchestral backdrop of overwhelming power.
The "Special Mix" refers to Orrin Keepnew's digital reissue elininating the distortions of the original analogue recording, with four alternate takes. This is a highly recommended album - it shows clearly that even in the mid-1960s, when the cutting-edge of jazz was supposedly the avant-garde movement, the Duke Ellington band of the time was still the best in the business.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
No jazz collection is complete without something by the Duke, and this is probably the best recording that you can get by him and his Band.This is one of those few records where, within a short time, you'll get to know every note of every solo because it is all so memorable. The only big band recording of the period to come anywhere near it (but not quite) is Electric Bath by the Don Ellis band - also highly recommended. Absolutely essential.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
What most surprised me about this beautiful collection was how original and inventive Ellington remained after 40 years of making music.
The opening 'Tourist Point Of View' despite it's exotic and seemingly strange overtones moves along effortlessly. The alternate version has even greater inventive bass playing by John Lamb than the original. 'Bluebird of Delhi' has some beautiful orchestration while the alternate version featured here goes in for greater intensity. In 'Isfahan' we can hear a little of how Ellington's mind brought together dispirate elements in his composing, it's foreign flavour subtly masked by a big-band waltz. The wonderful rolling melody 'Depk' is interspersed with some magical piano playing by Ellington. 'Mount Harissa' features strong bongo-style drumming while 'Blue Pepper' takes a cue from 'Isfahan' in it's ability to sound strange and familiar in one setting. 'Agra' proves to be the most exotic sounding piece on the album, Harry Carney's saxophone lilting its way round the Taj Mahal. 'Amad' footstomps its way into harmonic complexity before Ellington's most personal piece on the album 'Ad Lip On Nippon' highlights again his effortless piano playing. It'a also Jimmy Hamilton's finest performance of these sessions.
This is easily one of Ellington's best and most original collection of compositions and the remastered sound gives it a sophisticated colour that is impossible not to appreciate.
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