New Orleans Suite
New Orleans Suite is a studio album by the American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970. The album contains the final recordings of longtime Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died between the album's two recording sessions. The album won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. The suite was commissioned by George Wein for the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival. Reception. Dan Morgenstern's glowing review of the album in 1971 for "DownBeat" awarded it five stars. "The music is evocative , highly atmospheric and marked throughout by the gorgeous ensemble textures that set this orchestra apart from every other big band in the history of jazz", he wrote. "This is a great record, and by any standard one of the major musical events of 1971." Morgenstern had praise for several of the soloists, especially Johnny Hodges (in his swan song), Paul Gonsalves' "profoundly emotional" tribute to both Sidney Bechet and Hodges, Cootie Williams, Norris Turney, and Harold Ashby. In his review for "Sounds", Jack Hutton remarked that "a Creole influence permeates the work, a lazy Delta feel laden with nostalgic sadness  which is a probably a truer reflection of the historic city than the good-time trad which has helped to popularise it." He praised the solos of Norris Turney, criticized those of Cootie Williams, and concluded that "This suite, while it doesn't rank with Ellington's greatest works, proves that the piano player is still vitally creative well into his seventies." "The Penguin Guide to Jazz" includes the album as part of its suggested "Core Collection," and awards it a four-star rating. Track listing. All compositions by Duke Ellington.