Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943
Though the audio quality of this, the first of Ellington's annual Carnegie Hall concert presentations, is not the greatest, the music is utterly extraordinary. Beginning, appropriately enough for a wartime concert, with "The Star Spangled Banner" and moving through a cavalcade of the band's greatest arrangements and solo features (including an uncommonly brisk, virtuoso turn for Ben Webster and company on "Cotton Tail"),The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943is a stunning portrait of America's greatest orchestra at the peak of its powers. As was his wont, the Duke used these concerts as a springboard for the premiere of an extended work, and what really makes this an essential item for fans and collectors is the only complete recorded document of Ellington's "Black, Brown and Beige" (Duke later recorded a very moving but incomplete version featuring Mahalia Jackson for Columbia). A sweeping, ambitious long form, "Black, Brown and Beige" traces the history of African Americans from slavery days onward, alternating between the celebratory and the reflective. It features some of Duke's most inspired writing and one magnificent solo spot after another, but none so grand as Johnny Hodges's stunning testimonial  on "Come Sunday."--Chip Stern