Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque
Studio album by
Duke Ellington
Released1958
RecordedMarch 20, 24, 26, 31 & April 1, 1958
GenreJazz
LabelColumbia
Duke Ellington chronology
Dance Dates, California 1958
(1958)		 Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque
(1958)		 The Cosmic Scene
(1958)

Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1958 and released on the Columbia label.[1]

Program

Most of the music on Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque consisted of older popular songs and operetta songs, including three songs first published before 1920, and eight songs that were first published between 1922 and 1937. "Satin Doll" (1953), was both the newest composition on the album and the only composition Ellington participated in the composition of. The music for "Satin Doll" was originally credited on the LP label to solely to Ellington. (After the deaths of composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington in 1967 and 1974 respectively, a lawsuit, Tempo Music v. Famous Music, resulted in the change of the composer credit to include Billy Strayhorn as co-composer. The Johnny Mercer lyric had not been written in 1958 when Ellington recorded "Satin Doll" for the album.) All of the performances on the album are instrumental only.

The songs were chosen for their relationship to orchestral dance music, as the album title (a reference to the masquerade ball tradition) indicates.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "the music works quite well for Ellington and his all-star orchestra manage to transform what could be a set of tired revival swing into superior dance music and swinging jazz. While certainly not the most essential Ellington record, At the Bal Masque is a surprise success".[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

Track listing

  1. "Alice Blue Gown" (Harry Tierney, Joseph McCarthy) - 3:02
  2. "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (Frank Churchill, Ann Ronell) - 2:53
  3. "Got a Date with an Angel" (Jack Waller, Joseph Turnbridge; Sonnie Miller, Clifford Grey) - 2:25
  4. "Poor Butterfly" (Raymond Hubbell, John Golden) - 3:40
  5. "Satan Takes a Holiday" (Larry Clinton) - 3:15
  6. "The Peanut Vendor" (Moisés Simons, Marion Sunshine, Wolfe Gilbert) - 3:33
  7. "Satin Doll" (Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Mercer) - 3:48
  8. "Lady in Red" (Mort Dixon, Allie Wrubel) - 2:49
  9. "Indian Love Call" (Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach) - 3:36
  10. "The Donkey Serenade" (Friml, Stothart, George Forrest, Robert Wright) - 2:14
  11. "Gypsy Love Song" (Victor Herbert, Harry B. Smith) - 3:54
  12. "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (Ted Fio Rito, Samuel Lewis, Joseph Young) - 3:02
  • Recorded at Columbia 30th Street Studios, New York on March 20 (tracks 3, 5 & 12), March 24 (tracks 4 & 6), March 26 (track 9), March 31 (tracks 1, 7, 8 & 10) and April 1 (tracks 2 & 11), 1958.

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 17, 2010
  2. 1 2 Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed May 10, 2010
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