Duke Ellington CD Recommendations

Here are my favorites with my most favorite first and least favorite last. All are reissued recently.

1.Three Suites (Here he rearranges Tchiakovsky's Nutcracker
You will hear just pure genius particularly if you are familiar with the original work. This CD is excellent sonically)

2. The Ellington Legacy (Very good sonics. Most of his major hits are here.)

3. His Mother Called Him Bill (This record made a recent Absolute Sound survey as among the 100 greatest jazz recordings of the 20th century. My father was the recording engineer on the original recording.)

4. Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong: The Great Summit (Rereleased and remastered separately by RCA and MFSL, this recording was also originally recorded by my father.

Hi everyone,
Thank you all very much for the recommendations, and EXTRA kudos to Sdcampbell for going the extra mile of providing such detailed background info on Duke and his music.

I will be a few $$$s poorer by the end of this weekend, after I hit Tower Records, but I am eagerly looking forward to Monday night when I sit down for my first listening session...

Thanks again and Happy Listening!

If you're not through shopping, you might add one of my favorites, The Great Paris Concert. (Don't remember when it was released, but the concert was in 1963.) The sound is bright (not bad bright) and immediate, and hearing the verve and sophistication of these musicians in a live setting just makes their accomplishments all the more impressive. Johnny Hodges, especially, shines. The longish, thematic numbers, Suite Thursday and Tone Parallel To Harlem, are real treats.