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Title: Uninspiring and Eventually Annoying
Review: Martial Solal is an excellent pianist, but this big-band album of Duke Ellington songs is utterly boring. Indeed, the final selection, a medley, turns into a contest of how many quotes can be made of different songs, connecting them by big-band cliches. If you are the kind of person whose mood is improved by hearing four bars of "Sophisticated Lady" followed by a tiny slice of "Do Nothin Till You Hear From Me," then you will enjoy this cut. I found it most annoying.There is no reason to listen to this instead of a real Duke Ellington album, such as Far East Suite, or Early Recordings, or the Blanton-Webster Band. There you will not hear a single cliche, and the soloing will be much better as well. There is plenty of room for new approaches to the Ellington oeuvre, but this approach is not interesting.
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