The Great Summit: The Master Takes

by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong

Overview

The two greatest figures in jazz meet for a studio get-together -- what could be bad? The genuine feeling between these two giants is almost palpable as they jam their way through some Ellington favorites ("I'm Just a Lucky So and So," "Cottontail," "Mood Indigo," "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me," "Solitude") that accommodate "Pops" perfectly. With Ellington at the piano and Armstrong's working band in tow -- including trombonist Trummy Young and clarinetist Barney Bigard, a former Ellington band member -- the grand trumpeter and premier jazz vocalist is able to relax and turn in some magisterial interpretations of first-rate material. Ellington sounds like he's having a ball, his piano work pitched perfectly for Armstrong and the small group.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/09/2001
Label:	Parlophone (Wea)
UPC:	0724352454723
catalogNumber:	245476
Rank:	4433

Tracks

1. Duke's Place
2. I'm Just a Lucky So and So
3. Cotton Tail
4. Mood Indigo
5. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
6. The Beautiful American
7. Black and Tan Fantasy
8. Drop Me off in Harlem
9. The Mooche
10. In a Mellow Tone
11. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
12. Solitude
13. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
14. I'm Beginning to See the Light
15. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
16. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
17. Azalea

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Duke Ellington   Primary Artist,Piano
Louis Armstrong   Vocals,Trumpet
Mort Herbert   Bass
Trummy Young   Trombone
Danny Barcelona   Drums
Barney Bigard   Clarinet

Technical Credits

Michael Cuscuna   Reissue Producer
Ray Hall   Engineer
Ron McMaster   Remixing
Dan Morgenstern   Liner Notes
Bob Thiele   Producer

Editorial Reviews

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were (and are) two of the main stems of jazz. Any way you look at it, just about everything that's ever happened in this music leads directly -- or indirectly -- back to them. Both men were born on the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, and each became established as a leader during the middle '20s. Although their paths had crossed from time to time over the years, nobody in the entertainment industry had ever managed to get Armstrong and Ellington into a recording studio to make an album together. On April 3, 1961, producer Bob Thiele achieved what should be regarded as one of his greatest accomplishments; he organized and supervised a seven-and-a-half-hour session at RCA Victor's Studio One on East 24th Street in Manhattan, using a sextet combining Duke Ellington with Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars. This group included ex-Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard, ex-Jimmie Lunceford swing-to-bop trombonist Trummy Young, bassist Mort Herbert, and drummer Danny Barcelona. A second session took place during the afternoon of the following day. The music resulting from Thiele's inspired experiment is outstanding and utterly essential. That means everybody ought to hear this album at least once, and many will want to hear it again and again all the way through, for this is one of the most intriguing confluences in all of recorded jazz. Armstrong blew his horn with authority and sang beautifully and robustly. "Azalea" is a harmonically pixilated melody with complicated, peculiarly rhymed lyrics composed by Duke many years earlier with Armstrong in mind. Other highlights include the bluesy "I'm Just a Lucky So and So," a smoking hot, scat-laden rendition of "Cotton Tail," and "The Beautiful American," a marvelously modern exercise composed on the spot by Ellington that leaves one with the curious impression that Armstrong has just finished sitting in with Charles Mingus. It's also a premonition of the Ellington/Mingus/Roach Money Jungle session that would take place the following year. Since Thiele had "borrowed" Ellington from Columbia without permission, Roulette compensated by "lending" Count Basie & His Orchestra for the big-band blowout album entitled First Time! The Count Meets the Duke. The Armstrong/Ellington master takes were originally issued on two long-playing records; Together for the First Time came out on Roulette in 1961 and The Great Reunion appeared in 1963. Both albums later resurfaced as a Roulette LP two-fer entitled The Duke Ellington/Louis Armstrong Years. This material is also available in a Roulette Jazz Deluxe Edition with The Making of The Great Summit, a fascinating supplementary disc containing an hour's worth of rehearsals, conversations, and alternate takes. Those who truly love and respect Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington will want to obtain, absorb, study, and cherish the Deluxe Edition of The Great Summit.

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