Duke Ellington and John Coltrane

In 1962, Duke Ellington joined fellow jazz great John Coltrane in recording an album that would be titled after the two legends. Duke was considerably senior than John in age and musical experience yet he temporarily became part of Coltrane’s group to play some great jazz tunes for the album, many of which were his own compositions.

The first track on the album is the Ellington classic “In a sentimental mood”. The Duke has played this old number with some of the biggest guns in the jazz world including Art Tatum and Benny Goodman. But, the version of the song one comes across on this album is by far the most superior. Coltrane’s dreamy lines on the brass instrument take the classic number to a new level altogether.

Being bandleader for decades, has not blurred Ellington’s artistic vision, as he takes the backseat when the need be, to let his young guns take over, as in the case of “Take the Coltrane”. Even on the Coltrane composition “Big Nick”, Duke doesn’t come in the way of Coltrane’s bold and forthright lines.

Apart from mentioning the obvious brilliance of the two men, another point should be made about the great drumming. The drum duties have been borne by the ever-reliable Elvin Jones, added to which are guest appearances by Sam Woodyard. The creativity sucked out of the percussion instrument provides the perfect background for the other instruments, and makes it an aspect of great interest. For instance, on the track “Stevie” Sam uses ever so slight variations, which become an integral part of the song, more so than one would imagine.

At times it seems easier to play Jazz music than to describe it. For an instrumental track in an instrumental environment, “My little brown book” is as close as this form of music comes to actually saying it all without using a single alphabet. The importance of the percussion section drawn upon earlier becomes even clearer with the track “Angelica”. It’s a wonder how a simple change in beat changes the mood of the album in a jiffy. 

At approximately thirty-five minutes in length, the album provides the ideal setting for an evening evocative of moonlit strolls on the beach, holding together everything that made classic jazz delightful. Duke Ellington with John Coltrane, enough said! Listen already!