Up In Duke's Workshop (Remaster)

Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1991, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, Caifornia).

Duke Ellington was one of the most prolific (as well as one of the greatest) jazz composers in history. Whenever he had the opportunity--between tours, on tour, whatever--he would gather his orchestra into a handy studio to try out new compositional ideas and rework older classic tunes. WORKSHOP was recorded during the years 1969-72, a very underrated period in the Ellington canon.

Duke and company still valued the blues (the sultry, cinematic "Wanderlust"), but retained a sense of adventure--dig the odd stylistic mixtures of "Bateau" and "Dick," as Duke combines James Bond-like Euro-intrigue film music, fractured rhythm and blues song structures, expressive organ and reed voicings and quirky, almost-avant-garde piano. Anyone who thinks that Ellington was a played-out holdover from the big band era, or that his best years were those before 1960, needs to hear this album.