About a week and a half ago, Capri Records released an album entitled Masters & Baron Meet Blanton & Webster. For those unfamiliar with these names, the latter two are jazz bassist Jimmie Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster. Between 1940 and 1942 both of them were performing with Duke Ellington, and that period is so significant in jazz history that the group is usually referred to as the “Blanton-Webster Band.” The CD release of the RCA recordings made during this time was one of my early major jazz acquisitions; and, of course, those CDs are included in the larger Centennial Edition, which is a complete compilation of all RCA releases. “For the record,” as they say, the Centennial Edition refers to the performers as “Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra,” while the performers on most of the other CDs in the collection are listed as “Duke Ellington and His Orchestra!”
The first of the names in the title of the new album is Mark Masters, who has prepared arrangements of eleven of the best-known tunes from the Blanton-Webster years. Seven of the twelve tracks are Ellington compositions: “All Too Soon,” “Duke’s Place,” “I Got it Bad (And That Ain’t Good),” “What Am I Here For?,” “Jack the Bear,” “Ko-Ko,” and “In A Mellotone.” (This last of these has an introduction as a separate track, played by a quartet of trumpet, trombone, bass, and drums.) Three of the tracks are by Billy Strayhorn, whom Ellington once described as “my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine.” The Strayhorn selections are “A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing,” “Passion Flower,” and “Take the ‘A’ Train.” The remaining track, “Perdido,” was composed by Juan Tizol, a trombonist in the Blanton-Webster Band specializing in valve trombone. The remaining name is that of trombonist Art Baron, who was not a member of the Blanton-Webster Band but was the last trombonist that Ellington himself hired.
It will not take long for those listening to this new album to appreciate the prodigious inventions in Masters’ arrangements. He clearly does not view any of these tunes as belonging on a pedestal for all to bow in worship. Nevertheless, he works with resources that are very close to the Blanton-Webster ensemble without coming across as a “carbon copy.” The saxophone section consists of Kirsten Edkins and Jerry Pinter doubling on soprano and tenor, Danny House on alto and clarinet, and Adam Schroeder on baritone. On the brass side the group has four trumpeters: Scott Englebright, Les Lovitt, Ron Stout, and Tim Hagans. Baron is in the trombone section, joined by Les Benedict and Dave Woodley. (Hagans and Baron are in the quartet introduction to “In A Mellotone.”) Rhythm is provided by Bruce Lett on bass and Mark Ferber on drums. Note that Masters’ arrangements do not include a piano, perhaps in the interest of departing from both the style and substance of Ellington’s interpretations of the selections on the album.
What makes Masters’ arrangements particularly interesting is that he counts on the familiarity of a tune to the extent that he can challenge the listener to find it. He is often (but not always) given to extended introductions from which the tune takes its time in declaring its presence. Some may regard this as an overly-cerebral parlor trick. Personally, I was reminded of how Benjamin Britten would take a “reverse order” approach to a set of variations on a theme, beginning with the most embellished version and then gradually thinning things out until the theme is presented in its original version as the conclusion.
As a result, while I have no intention of being drawn away from my CDs of the Blanton-Webster Band, I am just as hooked on the many new perspectives that Masters takes on those now-classic tracks.
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