DUKE ELLINGTON
First Time! The Count Meets The Duke
(Columbia Legacy)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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This might not have worked. The Duke of Cotton Club sophistication meets the Count of Kansas City swing. Despite the mutual admiration between Duke Ellington and Count Basie, there was a notable difference in their approaches to music. Add the presence of two bands full of some of the top players in jazz, all capable and deserving of taking the spotlight at any moment, and you've got all the ingredients needed for a crowded cacophony of cutting. Or, on the other hand, you've got all the ingredients needed for something genuinely wonderful.

First Time! is genuinely wonderful. Over the course of eight tracks, the original LP became a keystone for any collection of either the Duke Ellington Orchestra or the Count Basie Band. Both leaders offer up substantial helpings of their distinctive piano styles and soloists in their bands trade off blasts of brilliance in a way that shows the high regard they felt for one another. This didn't devolve into a cutting session as it might have. Instead, the players demonstrated the high regard they felt for one another by elevating their personal efforts to new heights while creating an ensemble feel that sounded completely natural. By the time they were done with "Take The A Train," you couldn't be completely sure whether that famous line terminated on Harlem's Sugar Hill or K.C.'s Vine Street, but you knew you wanted to go there, wherever "there" was.

The feel didn't come entirely naturally, though. It required some careful arrangements and rehearsals, and on this Columbia Legacy edition honoring Duke Ellington's 100th birthday that process is revealed through the inclusion of 7 bonus tracks that include rehearsals and alternate takes of several of the album cuts. While the original album was well selected, there are additional moments of brilliance on each of these additional tracks, making this the essential version of this essential album.

Track List: Battle Royal * To You * Take The A Train * Corner Pocket AKA Until I Met You * Wild Man * Segue In C * B D B * Jumpin' At The Woodside * (Bonus Tracks): One More Once * Take The A Train (The Count Departs) Rehearsal and Alternate Takes * Jumpin' At The Woodside (Alternate Take) * B D B (Alternate Take) * Blues In Hoss' Flat (Blues In Frankie's Flat) * Wild Man (Alternate Take) * Battle Royal (Rehearsal and Alternate Takes)

© 1999 - Shaun Dale