VA - Goin' Home: A Tribute To Duke Ellington (2001)
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Goin' Home - A Tribute To Duke Ellington/A Benefit For The Duke Ellington Foundation
Year Of Release: 2001
Label: Lightyear
Genre: Jazz
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue, log, artwork)
Total Time: 01:01:50
Total Size: 367 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:Title: Goin' Home - A Tribute To Duke Ellington/A Benefit For The Duke Ellington Foundation
Year Of Release: 2001
Label: Lightyear
Genre: Jazz
Quality: FLAC (tracks + .cue, log, artwork)
Total Time: 01:01:50
Total Size: 367 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
01. All The Way Cool - The Groovepushers
02. Going Home - Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau, Take 6, Gregory Hines
03. I Ain't Got Nothing But the Blues - Otis Clay and Delya Chandler
04. Ellington Medley - Jonathan Butler, Dianne Reeves, Jeffrey Osborne
05. The Duke - Rachelle Ferrell, Grady Tate, Christian McBride, Kirk Whalum
06. Come Sunday - Otis Clay and Delya Chandler
07. Swinging At The Cotton Club - Jerry Butler, The Dells, Grady Tate
08. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Nancy Wilson, Kenny Lattimore
09. Smokin' - Sam Most, Snookie Young
10. Bring That Duke - Ernie Andrews, Barbara Morrison
11. It Don't Mean A Thing - Guru, Tashina Daniels
12. All The Way Cool (Instrumental Mix) - The Groovepushers
At its best, Goin' Home...Duke Ellington (Over the Edge/Lightyear 54461-2; 67:50) is an amazing, pitch-perfect tribute, with an all-star cast offering explosive big-band efforts and shiver-inducing vocal interpretations. However, this somewhat lengthy album (with proceeds benefiting the Duke Ellington Foundation) also includes a number of interesting experiments, some of which succeed with eloquent insight, and others of which merely puzzle.
The high-points here are extremely high, with a riotous big-band tribute "Goin' Home" leading the way in classic Duke style: big swinging horns, train noises and incomparable vocalese from Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau and Take 6. An "Ellington Medley" likewise brings a dream trio of interpreters together: Jonathan Butler lends a beautiful yearning to a softly gliding "Day Dream," Dianne Reeves gives a heart-rending read to "I Didn't Know About You" and Jeffrey Osborne embraces a lightly Brazil-beat take on "Prelude to a Kiss." Odder choices include a slowed, synthy "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" with Nancy Wilson's dusky, sad vocal, and a slickened, contemporized "It Don't Mean a Thing," which is interesting and well executed if not entirely pleasing. Still, Ellington would doubtlessly admire the invention of this high-energy tribute effort. -- Hilarie Grey
The high-points here are extremely high, with a riotous big-band tribute "Goin' Home" leading the way in classic Duke style: big swinging horns, train noises and incomparable vocalese from Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau and Take 6. An "Ellington Medley" likewise brings a dream trio of interpreters together: Jonathan Butler lends a beautiful yearning to a softly gliding "Day Dream," Dianne Reeves gives a heart-rending read to "I Didn't Know About You" and Jeffrey Osborne embraces a lightly Brazil-beat take on "Prelude to a Kiss." Odder choices include a slowed, synthy "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" with Nancy Wilson's dusky, sad vocal, and a slickened, contemporized "It Don't Mean a Thing," which is interesting and well executed if not entirely pleasing. Still, Ellington would doubtlessly admire the invention of this high-energy tribute effort. -- Hilarie Grey
