Duke Ellington - The Nutcracker Suite - 180g LP

Product no.: PPANCS8341

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Duke Ellington - The Nutcracker Suite - 180g LP
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Pure Pleasure / Columbia - PPAN CS8341 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl 

AAA 100% Analogue -  Pressed at Pallas Germany - Limited Edition

Mastered at Steve Hoffman & Kevin Gray at Acoustech - Columbia CS 8341

Sound 9/10 Music 9/10  Michael Fremer Stereophile! 
Ellington plays Tchaikovsky. You can't go wrong. . It doesn't get any more fun than this if you are an Ellington fan.
In 1960, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arranged their own adaptation of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite for the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Back in 1969, five years before Vince Guaraldi jazzed up Christmas music for "A Charlie Brown Christmas," Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn conceived of and superbly executed this delightfully good-humored jazz version of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite."
Ellington and Strayhorn made up hip new names for Peter Ilich's originals, like "Sugar Rum Cherry" and "Toot Toot Tootie Toot" (Dance of the Reed-Pipes), but even without the novelty titles, you'd know The Duke was going for lightness and good humor.
The suite will be familiar to all, but the retelling as a jazz tale will be novel. The orchestra with Hodges, Carney, Gonzalves, Ray Nance and all the other great vets including drummer Sam Woodyard, swing their way easily through these rhythmically charged, nimbly struck arrangements.
My only criticism here are the short sides. Each is over too quickly.
The recording, produced in Los Angeles May through June of 1960 is clean, crisp and three dimensional, though the mix is more 3 track than stereo, with instruments panned fairly hard left and right with a prominent center fill and little to the its sides until you get to the hard left/right stuff.
Still, despite the somewhat dated staging, the recording quality itself is superb. The horns have a full, brassy swagger, the reeds plenty of buzzy warmth and Woodyard's drum kit is nicely developed with a juicy, woody rim shot that pops brilliantly and crisply chiming cymbals. Ellington's piano is also nicely recorded and there's an emphasis on close-miked percussion that helps make this an audiophile's delight.
A nice blend of direct, closely miked sound and chamber reverb produce a big, exciting picture you'll wrap your ears around with pleasure.
Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman's mastering and the quiet Pallas pressing make this reissue superior to the original, though if you have a clean one of those, you don't need this.
Though it was issued by Pure Pleasure last Spring, now's the time to remind you of this swinging Christmas record, perfect for right now!
I've been loving my original pressing for years. It's a record that comes out every Christmas. Get it and I guarantee it will become a tradition in your house every holiday season for years to come.
Duke Ellington's hard swinging Nutcracker Suite isn't a crossover or a novelty, it's a serious arrangement performed with the usual Ellington depth that is at the same time just a blast, and highly recommended whatever the season. Great remastering by Hoffman and Grey has a deep, wide soundstage and a big, driving, ballsy sound full of brass and wood. Five doobies.
Ellington's one meeting with Count Basie is also redone by Hoffman and Grey, and is another winner. This blows away even the most recent Sony CD mastering, as with the Nutcracker, a big, full, dynamic sound that puts every instrument clearly in a defined 3-D space with all the wonderful sonority of the Ellington and Basie bands. This one's a faceoff and a swinging contest, without a doubt. Everybody gets their shot and blows hard. Highly recommended,
Duke Ellington, piano
Johnny Hodges, saxophone
Harry Carney, saxophone
Paul Gonzalves, saxophone
Russell Procope, saxophone
Jimmy Hamilton, saxophone
Ray Nance, trumpet
Willie Cook, trumpet
Andrew Meringuito, trumpet
Eddie Mullins, trumpet
Juan Tizol, trombone
Lawrence Brown, trombone
Britt Woodman, trombone
"Booty" Wood, trombone
Sam Woodyard, drums
Aaron Bell, bass
1. Overture
2. Toot Toot Tootsie Toot (Dance of the Reed - Pipes)
3. Peanut Brittle Brigade (March)
4. Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)
5. Entr'acte
6. The Volga Vouty (Russian Dance)
7. Chinoiserie (Chinese Dance)
8. Dance of the Floreadores (Waltz of the Flowers)
9. Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance)
Duke Ellington - Nutcracker Suite - 180g LP
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Pure Pleasure Records
The Restoration of the Art of Sound
180g Vinyl Mastered From The Best Available Sources








Pure Analogue Audiophile Mastering
Plated and Pressed at Pallas in Germany on 180 Gram Virgin Vnyl
Released in Limited Quantities


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