Franco D'Andrea Trio - Deep South Suite (The Duke Ellington Suites (1931-1974) Chapter 3) (2006)

Like the earlier volumes in Franco D'Andrea's series of albums honoring Duke Ellington's suites, The Deep South Suite consists of excerpts from a number of unrelated suites written throughout Ellington's career, some of them written by or in collaboration with Billy Strayhorn. With bassist Ares Tavolazzi and drummer Massimo Manzi, the pianist explores rarely recorded works as the intriguing "Hearsay or Orson Welles", a blues-drenched interpretation of the playful "Sunset and the Mockingbird" (from The Queen's Suite), and a dissonant arrangement of "Uwis" (from The Uwis Suite). Even dedicated Ellington fans who are familiar with all of the original recordings of these works will be surprised at the facets that Franco D'Andrea's trio reveals with their consistently excellent performances. © Ken Dryden