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# This new collection of Ellington's Thirties recordings is generous in that it offers 95 selections and meagre in that there is no discographical information at all (no recording dates, no personel, no matrix numbers). The liner notes give some information but leave one pining for more too. There the criticism ends.
Audio restoration by Dutchman Harry Coster (who is attached to the Dutch Jazz Archive and has an outstanding reputation for painstaking restoration of old material) is beyond reproach and the recordings never sounded so good before. And of course there is the music itself, which is formidable, both in musical content and in execution by that peerless group of proud individuals that constituted the Duke Ellington orchestra. These recordings show that Ellington, although not leading a "swing band" in the commercialized sense of the word, influenced almost any other band in those years, American, British or Continental. Which self-respecting band didn't play a (watered down) version of "Caravan" or "Sophisticated Lady"? Ellington influenced a whole generation of composers and arrangers: "Moonglow" bears an uncanny resemblance to Ellington's "Lazy Rhapsody", the opening bars of "Daybreak Express" were copied almost note for note by Jerry Gray when he penned the arrangement of "Chatanooga Choo-Choo" some nine years later, the concept of two trumpeters engaged in a high-note battle in "Tootin'Through the Roof" was adapted for a whole trumpet section by Joe Garland & Glenn Miller in "In the Mood" and copied by Sy Oliver in his arrangement of Tommy Dorsey's version of "Swing High" and so on (Billy May, when arranging for a Sixties Nat Cole album admitted that he thought Ellington "wrote the book"; his arrangements for Barnet and Miller attest to that). Hardly any band however could match the emotional depth of "In a Sentimental Mood", "Azure", "Lost in Meditation" or the relaxed swing of "I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart". Which alto player was not jeaulous of Johnny Hodges' beautiful tone and faultless technique, which trombone player didn't at least attempt to produce the eerie sound of Joe Nanton's plunger mute, which trumpet player didn't try his hand at Rex Stewart's halve-valve technique or Cootie's unique growl and plunger work? Trombonists Lawrence Brown and Juan Tizol didn't have any followers: they were too unique, too individual than that anyone could possibly try to emulate them.
You will find most of Duke Ellington's essential works here, next to the already mentioned there is also "Blue Light", "Serenade to Sweden", the swinging "The Sergeant Was Shy", "St Louis Blues" (with a vocal by Bing Crosby) a "Gypsy Without a Song", but also the (often much maligned) extended works like the four part "Reminiscing in Tempo", "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", the wonderful remake of "Black and Tan Fantasy" etc. etc. While I have some reservations as to the discographical information (or rather, the lack of it), the generous amount of titles, the excellent remastering and the greatness of the music are deserving of the largest amount of stars thinkable.

# I own 3 disk career-spanning sets from RCA (The Centennial Edition - Highlights From 1927-1973) and Columbia (The Duke: The Columbia Years 1927-1962). I have always had a preference for disk 1 of each because of the 1930's sides. Subsequent reading of the (150 page!) Ellington chapter in Gunther Schuller's marvelous The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 (The History of Jazz, Vol. 2), he made the case that these recordings were not only among the Ellington band's best, but among the best in the entire "Swing" canon. After extensive listening to these 4 CDs, I would have to agree.
After Duke's first Cotton Club recordings of the 20's, he began to build the orchestra and a vocabulary for that orchestra that was never exceeded. The fresh sound of innovation fairly drips from these sides. No band ever created 95 separate tracks (no alternates or updates) that are so conisistently lively and original in just 10 years. While they are in the "swing" spirit, the arrangements are much more clever than that term usually implies. The depth of the arrangements and the expertise of the musicians guarantee you'll never tire of these efforts, ranging from the merely excellent to masterpieces.
All recordings were made from original masters, somehow RCA and Sony cooperated so we get to draw here from both sets of masters. While the remastering quality is not quite up to the aforementioned career sets, it is still leagues better than the usual European boxed set standard (Quadromania, ASV, Proper Box). At 4CD's for the price of one, there is simply no reason any Ellington or Swing Music fan should be without this set.
While Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band is generally regarded as The Pinnacle of the Ellington legacy, I actually find these sides more intriging because (a) there's more stylistic variety and (b) the Blanton/Webster sides are marred by some recording difficulties and many bland vocals.

# For all Ellington admirers the release of this CD box set is a major event - and at this price an incredible "gift" too. However many CD's of Duke's early and late music one might own there was always one huge gap - his 30's period. And although Sony may have lavished great care in reissuing nearly all his later concept albums (with extra tracks and great research) where the 30's were concerned they've never offered much more than dribs and drabs from their huge catalogue of Columbia recordings he made (only for them) from 1932-39.
Many of us knew what we were missing. In the 70's French CBS issued ALL his Columbia 78's on 15 double LP's. But the limitations of vinyl - and skipping alternate tracks - made fully enjoying these gems a frustrating process. Now with this huge CD release we can understand why so many experts consider he led an even better "swinging band" just prior to making his early 40's Victor classics - which are so small in number eventually one knows every note far too well.
Whereas this box contains a cornucopia of much less familiar but just as important treasures. The chief bonus of course is to hear all this rare music in the clarity of digital sound. And to realize the Columbia engineers did Ellington a big favor in NOT highlighting his individual solists or sections. Providing a constant sensation this band was a justly proud homogenious unit (hand-picked by Duke). Which also reflects the band member's involvement in helping Duke create these complex perfectly executed arrangements. Bar his written composition "Reminiscing in Tempo" none of these 30's tunes sound repetitive or mechanical. With constantly varying patterns between his "star" solists and super-smooth ensemble background work today's listeners can only sit back and marvel at the seemingly effortless intricacy of each one of these 3-minute masterpeices.
Based on the fast tracks on Disc 3 & 4 was this the greatest swing band of them all? The litle known "Bouncing Buoyancy" being a typical example of their abiity to suggest perpetual motion. In this case propelled by the greatest sax section in the history of jazz. Due to the time limitations of 78 shellac this and many other numbers seem to come to a rather abrupt close. But to be left wanting more is in not criticism. Just the reverse.
It's true this box's sleeve notes don't include the minutia one finds on most CD re-issues. But for the newly intrigued they could do no better than buy Mark Tucker's book "The Duke Ellington Reader" to discover what was being written about Duke - at the same time his band was constantly evolving.
Aptly this collection closes with the miraculous "Country Girl". His greatest ever recording? As his music was always descriptive the title suggests he and the band are saying more about the opposite sex in 3 minutes than any classical composer could - with 30 minutes and a full orchestra at his disposal.
In conclusion these are incredibly welcome digital transfers from his great 30's Columbia years. Hopefully Sony will now release many more. For instance a carefully selected "Best of the Small Groups". Cootie's "Delta Mood" and Johnny's "Wanderlust" the cream of the crop. But of course a thousand other fans will beg to differ!

# The 1930's Duke Ellington Band has always been my favorite. The band is disciplined, but has incredible energy. There is a freshness to this version of the Ellington band that seems lost by the time it evolved to the famous "Blanton-Webster" band of the early 40s. Don't get me wrong, I am not criticizing the Blanton-Webster band. I love it. I just like this even better. You get plenty of hits, and much of the "non-hit" material is just classic. For example, you get Duke's original recording of his composition "Swinging On A Blue Note." While this was not a "hit" it is absolutely "hit" caliber, as are so many others. I agree with the other reviewer who very accurately explained that the restoration is very good, but not quite as good as the "Duke: The Columbia Years" set. There is very little authorized Duke Ellington from this period that is available right now (in 2009). This is an authentic BMG Sony label release of the band from it's greatest period. It is a rare opportunity to get over 80 songs of this incredible band at a very reasonable price.

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I've been an Ellington fan since I was 17 and have many of his recordings. When I listened to the first CD, I noticed the clarity of each of the instruments. The sound quality was excellent and well-balanced due to Harry Coster's loving restorations and the transfers of the original 78s by Coster and Matt Cavaluzzo.
Other plusses were the combination of both Victor and Columbia recordings as well as the inclusion of previously unreleased material.
I was disappointed with the quality of the liner notes - there was no attempt to provide discographical information (recording dates, personnel, etc.) which is readily available.
Based upon the CDs alone, this set deserves 5 stars. Due to the lack of adequate documentation, this set should have 4 3/4 stars.