Duke Ellington & His Orchestra feat. Mahalia Jackson - Black, Brown And Beige (1973 Japanese CBS/Sony Vinyl LP)

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Duke Ellington & His Orchestra feat. Mahalia Jackson - Black, Brown And Beige | Vinyl LP - 1973 Japanese CBS/Sony Reissue (SOPZ 17)

Ellington premiered Black, Brown and Beige at his first Carnegie Hall concert on January 23, 1943, billing it as "a tone parallel to the history of the Negro in America." It ran 45 minutes and received mixed reviews. He never recorded the full suite in the studio. Fifteen years later, with Mahalia Jackson newly signed to Columbia Records, he returned to the material and revised it, stripping the suite down to six shorter sections built around "Come Sunday," the hymn-like melody from the original "Black" movement. The result is closer to a sacred work than a jazz suite. Part II opens with Ray Nance's violin playing the theme unaccompanied before the orchestra enters underneath. Part III brings the full band into the "Work Song" melody with the horns building to a climax that rivals anything in Ellington's catalogue. Then Jackson enters on Part IV, singing "Come Sunday" with a directness and weight that turns the piece into something between a concert performance and a church service. Her voice against Nance's violin is one of the most striking textures Ellington ever put on record. Part VI, the "23rd Psalm," closes the album with Jackson singing over the full orchestra.

Down Beat gave it five stars, with Dom Cerulli writing that Ellington and Jackson had created "a gentle, reverent, powerful prayer" and calling it "an Ellington milestone." The orchestra on the sessions (recorded in February 1958 in Los Angeles) includes Clark Terry and Cat Anderson on trumpet, Britt Woodman and Quentin Jackson on trombone, Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Harry Carney on baritone. Ellington told an interviewer that Strayhorn, who was in Florida during the sessions, sent the arrangement for "Come Sunday" after being told the key. All six parts are Ellington compositions. This is the 1973 Japanese reissue on CBS/Sony SOPZ 17, from the CBS Sony Jazz 1100 series.