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Title: All showstoppers in search of a show
Review: I'm adding my two-cents here just because the other reviewers are too generous. While it's hard to hate the Ellington band, especially during the period of 1957-59, when it was stuffed with talented soloists and Duke was clearly feeling inspired, this album of charts put together solely to evoke excitement among big, unsophisticated festival crowds comes across as just that: over-the-top, shrill and, ultimately, rather exhausting. Sure, there's some exciting playing here, particularly from Clark Terry and Paul Gonsalves, but it's all in the "more-is-more" mode. After a decent rendition of "Perdido", it quickly wears out its welcome. I mean, who buys an Ellington album to hear an extended drum battle between two drum kits? Yikes. Best Duke studio album of this period is still probably Blues in Orbit, and best live recording is perhaps the At the Blue Note set.
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