Studio: Reelin’ in the Years Productions 2119001, Distr. by Naxos
Video: 4:3 B&W, all regions
Audio: English DD mono
Extras: 24-p. illustrated booklet with forward by Duke’s grandson, Edward K. Ellington II
Length: 80 minutes
Rating: ****
Shot at the famed Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in l958, this is the earliest known film of an entire concert by the 16-piece Duke Ellington Orchestra. It followed on the band’s big splash at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, which brought them great acclaim. Among the great sidemen in the band at this time were Clark Terry, Harry Carney, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Quentin Jackson and the versatile Ray Nance – playing trumpet, violin and doing a vocal.
Ellington intros the numbers from his piano, and some good close ups of his keyboard show his distinctive style on the ivories. The couple of vocals are interesting and unexpected. There are 13 separate selections, but the first and penultimate tracks are long medleys of Ellington hits – the last including ten different tunes. The final section is a sort of encore following the reintroduction of some of the soloists in the band. The sound is very good, although of course mono. However, for some reason the B&W screen images are very dark thruout – don’t know why the light wasn’t brought up a bit in the DVD transfer to the level it is on the other Jazz Icon DVDs. The particular artifacts (blooming around shiny reflections on the instruments) seem to indicate this was a kinescope rather than a straight film, although it is a very good one. (Europeans in general seemed to achieve higher quality in their TV kinescopes than seen in the U.S. – there’s none of that serious image distortion prevalent in old B&W American TV shows.) Avid Ellington fans will want to have both this DVD and the Storyville color/stereo Ellington DVD we just reviewed; the more videophile-oriented may want only the latter due to its better images and sound.
TrackList: Black and Tan Fantasy/Creole Love Call/The Mooch; Harlem Airshaft; Sophisticated Lady; My Funny Valentine; Kinda Dukish/Rockin’ in Rhythm, Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool; Jack the Bear; You Better Know It; All of Me; Things Ain’t What They Used to Be; Hi-Fi-Fo-Fum; Ellington Medley; Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue.
– John Henry
