| Jazz |
To take on the works of Duke Ellington in 2024, one must be quite bold and, above all, have a group of truly talented musicians to bring us back to that atmosphere. This, combined with modernized arrangements, makes this music more vibrant than ever and benefits from particularly luxurious production, which is the case with this album… I started by reading the press release intended for journalists: Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2 is a sincere tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington and follows the resounding success of the previous album by Planet D Nonet, Blues to Be There: A Salute to Duke Ellington. The previous album was perfection, so quickly! Quickly, we open the CD player to let it swallow the new disc. Barely time to catch our breath and we arrive at track 3, “Rocks In My Bed,” which seems tailor-made for the soundtrack of Spielberg’s “The Color Purple,” one of the few films that managed to bring me to tears and deeply resonate with my humanistic fiber…
Yes, this album is an artistic masterpiece. Although the tracks have been known for ages, the joy is there on this CD, whose cover design is also particularly successful. An organic evolution of Volume 2. During the tour for the previous CD, Planet D Nonet continued to add new pieces to their repertoire, realizing last summer that they had enough material for Volume 2. The project evolved organically, with some songs drawn from the film “Anatomy of a Murder,” performed during a special tour of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where Duke himself once played. The performances by James O’Donnell with the East Side Rhythm Rascals inspired the inclusion of “Echoes of Harlem” and “Azalea,” arranged by Jeff Cuny. Collaborations with Andrew Homzy and Jeff Cuny brought “Rocks in my Bed” from the Ellington collection at the Smithsonian, featuring the voices of Camille Price.
This is music imbued with as much poetry as nostalgia, on which all jazz specialists can ponder for a while on the effectiveness of this production, which is evidently a labor of love. Here, they do not merely interpret Duke’s hits; these are more like inspirations, a vision of a bygone era, a modern rewrite, a way of handling the brass that probably wouldn’t have been done that way back then. And this is what makes the genius of this album, which we embrace from the first listen. Even the instrumental solos are legendary moments, and certainly, this is one of our finest albums labeled “Indispensable!”
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, July 7th 2024
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Players:
James O’Donnell trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals & maracas, coleader
Charlie Miller, trumpet, flugelhorn
John “Tbone” Paxton, trombone, vocals
Alex Colista, alto sax, clarinet
Christopher Tabaczynski, tenor sax & clarinet
Goode Wyche III, bari, alto saxes
Michael Zaporski, piano
Trevor Lamb, string bass (except 1 & 3)
Sean Perlmutter, drum set, cowbell
RJ Spangler, congas, small percussion instruments, bandleader
Special guests:
Camille Price, vocal
Kurt Krahnke string bass tracks 1 & 3
Credits:
RJ Spangler, Executive Producer
RJ Spangler, co-producer
Ryan Strawbridge, co-producer
Josef Deas, engineer
John “Tbone” Paxton associate producer
S. Chris Dellopoulos & Drew Hill, band crew
John Penney, WRCJ, liner notes
Chuck Andersen, photos
Recorded January 3, 4 & 7 Big Sky Recording, Ann Arbor
Package design by Maddie Summers
Album Info:
Album Name: Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol 2
Label: Eastlawn Records, ELD-42
Street Date: July 19, 2024
Add Date: July 15, 2024
UPCOMING EVENTS & CD RELEASE PARTY:
Sunday, July14, the Paxton/Spangler Band at the Boston/Edison Summer Concert
Thursday, July 18, the Planet D Nonet CD Release Event at Cliff Bell’s Jazz Club in Detroit
Friday, July 19, the Planet D Nonet CD Release Event at Cliff Bell’s Jazz Club in Detroit
Saturday, July 20, the Planet D Nonet wsg Camille Price CD Release Event at Cliff Bell’s Jazz Club in Detroit