Duke Ellington was constantly composing new material as well as creating new arrangements of vintage works, as heard on this Columbia LP recorded in 1959. "Perdido" is an extended feature for
Clark Terry's virtuoso flügelhorn, though this would be his final studio session as a regular member of the
Ellington band. "Copout Extension," a longer version of an earlier work called "Copout," showcases marathon soloist
Paul Gonsalves on tenor sax. Among the new pieces, the three-part suite "Duael Fuel" features drummers
Jimmy Johnson and
Sam Woodyard, though the piece was dropped from the band book after 1960. "Idiom '59" is another new three-part suite, with the elegant clarinet of
Russell Procope, clarinetist
Jimmy Hamilton's more raucous styling, and finally, the leader paired with
Terry (again on flügelhorn). This suite had an even shorter life; it had been premiered at the Newport Jazz Festival earlier in the year, and this was its second and final performance.
Ellington's brisk swinging chart of "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" spotlights the matchless alto saxophonist
Johnny Hodges, who was always as ready to play the blues as he was ballads. "Launching Pad," though credited to
Ellington, was actually written by
Terry and orchestrated by the pianist. This sassy blues strangely features
Ray Nance instead of its composer as the trumpet soloist, along with a quartet consisting of
Terry,
Britt Woodman,
Hamilton, and
Gonsalves. Highly recommended. ~ Ken Dryden