Festival Session, recorded in 1959, acknowledges the growing importance of the summer festival season for jazz listeners and performers. Here Ellington attempts to capture the flavor of the band’s festival performances in the studio, even making announcements about the material or the soloists as though he were speaking to an audience. It’s a bit disconcerting, and the material isn’t quite as complex as the previous two recordings, but it does swing like mad. And Ellington had been reborn at a festival, the 1956 Newport Festival, to be precise, where tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves blew chorus after chorus on “Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue.” So he was well aware of the type of program with which to create excitement in the festival environment.

The CD begins with yet another go at Juan Tizol’s “Perdido,” this time in a Basie-esque arrangement that features flugelhorn player Clark Terry, who had been poached by Ellington from Count Basie’s band. Indeed, the arrangement of “Perdido” heard here is structured very much like a Basie chart, pushed along by a fiercely swinging rhythm section punctuated by sharp but relatively simple horn section commentary. “Copout” is a Gonsalves feature, taking advantage of the tenor man’s fantastic creativity and ability to produce a sequence of solo choruses that brought an audience ever closer, ever farther along the road to sheer ecstasy until they were in frenzy.

“Duael Fuel,” presented in three parts, is a feature for the two-drum setup of Sam Woodyard (right channel) and Jimmy Johnson (left channel). The two drummers trade eights linked by unison figures played by the entire band in the first part, which is a dynamo of energy and excitement. The relatively brief Part Two features an out and out swinging band section, complimented by Duke’s Basie-style piano interjections. The Third Part belongs to the two drummers, and is a fantastic education for any drummer to hear. Duke and the band play the audience again, applauding and cheering at one point. It’s easy to envision how festival crowds might have responded to this rip-roaring number. But Ellington had not forgotten his more serious aspirations as a composer, as evidenced by “Idiom ’59,” a three-part suite that offers many of the elements Ellington had made famous in the previous few years—gorgeous clarinet work, smoky after-hours horn voicings—but also never forgets to swing.

Mercer Ellington’s “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” like “Perdido” was a favorite of Elington audiences. Johnny Hodges’ signature alto sax work is filled with the blues, yet creates a majestic and elegant statement. Then there’s “Launching Pad,” a number that was written by Ellington and Clark Terry, yet is usually credited only to Ellington. Regardless, it’s a hip number that’s so cool it’s hot. The reissue adds on a couple of tracks as well. “V.I.P.’s Boogie” was originally part of a suite that Ellington wrote for a dance performance, and then retitled for release on 78-rpm recordings. “Jam With Sam” was used by Duke to introduce the soloing band members, using various humorous devices to appeal to the (in this case non-existent) audience. It’s not the strongest track on the CD, but it does provide a high-energy finale.

In the second part of this article, we’ll look at the most recent Columbia Ellington reissues, Blues In Orbit, Piano in the Foreground, and Piano in the Background.

Ellington Uptown | Masterpieces By Ellington

>>Part Two (coming shortly)