St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1950-06-30
r Atm 9 THE
r Z c O z D S
By J. Henry Randall
Indigo'd ElIingfonic

"hdb - WITHOUT queSliOh piueS
to delight the masses" is a pack
aged bit of Ellingtonia on the As
series, sporting the name Duke
Ellington Plays the Blues" AS
we have observed before, the term
blues" means so many things to
so many people--yet to our way
of thinking, the quality of the
blues motif as interpreted by the
Ellington crew is such as to salts
fly the bulk of those-both old and
young-jass addicts.
In the album are the Clarence
and Spencer Williams opus Royal
Garden Blues; the w. c. Handy st.
Louis Blues, and Beal Street
Blues; the Ellington originals,
Drawing Room Blues, co-conceived
by Billy Strayhorn and Pretty
Woman, and finally Frankie and
Johnny.
"MUSfs" To Hear
Billy Eckstine's latest--a pair
of oldies, one of which dates way
back-are l Wanna BE Loved and
Stardust. Russ Case and Buddy
Baker respectively handle the ac-
compartment. "Stardust" siding
is slightly reminiscent of the Pha
Terrell lin the Earl Hines -
Grand Terrace heyday) interpre-
tation (MGM) Paul Brecken-
ridge, supported by choir, does a
wonderful revival of the oldie,
Sweet Slumber, with Lucky Mil
Under and crew officiating instru-
mentally. Flip puts Annisteen Al
len on a sophisticated blues ap-
proach to Let II Be (Victor)
Sarah Vaughan, as usual in her
top form goes one better when
she takes Hubby George Tread
wells tune, I'll Wait and Pray for
a blued-ballad ride. Ted Dale con-
ducts the orchestra for this side.
On the mate, Treadwell gets into
the picture again when he fronts
the orchestra for Sarah's version
Of Walter Gross Tenderly. And
composer Gross sits at the piano
for this waxing (MGM).
Observation-Disclosures, there is Earl
Bostic soloing his jump arrange
ment of Franz Schubert's Sere-
made. Bostic, also a composer of
note, has for the flip, Wrap Your
Troubles In Dreams. A power
packed opener by the brasses, en-
semble vocalizing and some ex-
cellent riffings make this side one
Of his recent bests (King)
More of the cooley-conceived re-
vivals by the George Shearing
Quintet is heard on the new, I
Didn't know What Time IL Was.
That polished out-of-the world or
somewhat "far-easternized" sound
is enhanced by Chuck Wayne and
Margie Hyams on solo bits. A
Shearing original, the usual for
mula, is on the reverse, HOw's
Trix? A subtle bob PAGER, the
tune was inspired by Mrs. Shear
ing, whose front handle is Trixie,
CMGM.
The enlarged Illinois Jacquet
crew have a brass-reed blues oIigi-
nal nicely paced in You Gotta
Change. Flip is Sid Mckinney VOC
aIizing on My Old GAL another
original CVictor). Gene Krupa and
his Chicago Jazz fail to excite
with their rag-time vehicles, I
Want Gold In My Pocket and At
The Jazz Band Ball Bobby Scots
is on vocal for both (Victor).
Saxist Bill Gather has a won
derfully gated item in That's the
COrkscrew- the name of a new
dance form without lone
Wade doing the vocal. Her voice
dosent's do anything for the tune.
FLAP is a boogie-instrumental,
BouncIn With Bill (MGM. Blues
shouter Joe Turner has a good
low down pair in FeeIin' So Sad
and Moody Baby. On both, give a
listen to that back room" piano.
(MGM).