Duke Ellington - At Newport 1956 Complete (1999 Columbia Jazz Reissue) 2-CD Set

  One of the greatest live jazz festival recordings ever — and the best-selling jazz record of all time —  has gotten better, and more interesting as well, with this SONY/Columbia Jazz 1999 reissue to celebrate Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington's 100th birthday. A result of the kind of effort that most record companies normally won't even discuss. Ellington's original 1956 Newport album was his best-selling long-player ever, and re-established him, after a two-year drought in the wake of his unsuccessful stay at Capitol, as a vitally popular jazz artist, perceived as worth courting by the major labels. But that record was, in keeping with Columbia's standard operating procedure of the day, a cut-and-paste job made up of studio re-recordings of the festival's repertory. The producers of the 1999 double-CD reissue, containing 20 tracks, have assembled the complete live performance in true, real stereo as well as the studio-produced tracks. The result is the first complete consideration of the actual Newport performance, as well as a complete account of the studio-generated portions of the original release. The highlight is an extraordinarily vivid account of  Paul Gonsalves' legendary 27-chorus tenor sax solo on "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue." The latter ends Disc One, and Disc Two gives a vivid account of the aftermath of Gonsalves' moment of glory and finishes the live set. The concert portion is followed by the original LP's studio-generated fake-live productions, which aren't as exciting as the live renditions, but are worth hearing.  - Review by Bruce Eder CD DESCRIPTION Condition: New Reissued: 1999 Label: SONY / Columbia Jazz/Columbia Legacy AISN: C2K 64932 Tracks: 2 CDs - Disc One - 21 tracks; Disc Two 19 tracks14 (See Track Listing below) Rating:★★★★★ (See FAQs) Track Listing Disc one "The Star Spangled Banner" - 1:10 Father Norman O'Connor Introduces Duke & the Orchestra / Duke Introduces Tune & Anderson, Jackson & Procope - 3:36 "Black and Tan Fantasy" - 6:21 Duke Introduces Cook & Tune - 0:26 "Tea for Two" - 3:34 Duke & Band Leave Stage / Father Norman Talks About The Festival - 2:30 "Take the 'A' Train" - 4:27 Duke Announces Strayhorn's A Train & Nance / Duke Introduces Festival Suite, Part I & Hamilton - 0:41 "Part I - Festival Junction" - 8:10 Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II - 0:38 "Part II - Blues to Be There" - 7:09 Duke Announces Nace & Procope; Introduces Part III - 0:19 "Part III - Newport Up" - 5:33 Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves & Terry / Duke Introduces Carney & Tune - 0:25 "Sophisticated Lady" - 3:52 Duke Announces Grissom & Tune - 0:17 "Day In, Day Out" - 3:50 Duke Introduces Tune(s) and Paul Gonsalves Interludes - 0:23 "Diminuendo In Blue and Crescendo In Blue" - 14:20 Announcements, Pandemonium - 0:44 Pause Track - 0:06 Disc two Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges - 0:18 "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" - 3:38 "Jeep's Blues" - 4:36 Duke Calms Crowd; Introduces Nance & Tune - 0:42 "Tulip or Turnip" - 2:49 Riot Prevention - 1:08 "Skin Deep" - 9:13 "Mood Indigo" - 1:30 Studio Concert (Excerpts) - 4:01 Father Norman O'Connor Introduces Duke Ellington / Duke Introduces New Work, Part I & Hamilton - 1:02 "Part I - Festival Junction" - 8:46 Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II - 0:32 "Part II - Blues To Be There" - 7:48 Duke Announces Nance & Procope; Introduces Part III" - 0:16 "Part III - Newport Up" - 5:20 Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves & Terry / Pause / Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges - 0:41 "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" - 3:47 "Jeep's Blues" - 4:31 Pause Track - 0:06 Tracks 9-19 on CD2 were not part of the original performance.