Soul Call
Long considered a "minor work" in the Ellington catalog, this reissue (with 10 bonus tracks!) demands that this live recording from 1966 be reevaluated. The original release featured only 5 of the 15 cuts supplied here--about 40 minutes of music compared with almost 80 minutes on this rerelease. While the highlight on the original release was the debut of "La Plus Belle Africaine," composed for the World Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal, the highlight of this reissue is its fullness--the idea that we can listen to a full program of red-hot Ellington band. The band smokes in the uptempo title cut (with trumpeter Cat Anderson and tenor king Paul Gonsalves turning in eye-bulging solos), while on "Sophisticated Lady," Duke's piano accompaniment to Harry Carney's astonishing horn illustrates both the band's remarkable chops and Duke's incomparable skills as a composer and arranger. Throughout the record, Duke keeps it fast and loose, pulling out a swinging "Wings and Things" leading into scorching versions of "The Opener," before heading into a steamy and sultry "Caravan." An obligatory run through "Take the 'A' Train" closes this revised, and much more substantial,Soul Call.--S. Duda