André Previn and Duke Ellington Play Ellington, Plus Much More

Two items featuring the music of Duke Ellington today - one with pianist André Previn and one with the Duke himself.

Also, we have a fine playlist of songs for those quarantined, courtesy of reader Eric, who was kind enough to leave a link in the comments to the Mary Healy post. More below.

André Previn on Sunset

The 16-year-old Previn, already on the radio

In this blog's series devoted to André Previn, we've previously heard some of his early recordings for RCA Victor. Today, we explore the output of his earliest sessions, done for the short-lived Sunset label in 1945-46 when he was 16 and 17 years old. Six of these recordings feature the music of Duke Ellington, which Sunset issued in a 78 album (cover above).

Previn was still in Hollywood High School when he began making records. Not only that, he was already playing dates and working at M-G-M Studios - and had been on the radio for a few years. Just an ordinary kid.

Eddie Laguna of Sunset Records brought him into the studio for an October 1945 date, which saw Previn accompanied by the highly accomplished Dave Barbour on guitar and John Simmons on bass. This set includes the Goodman standard "Good Enough to Keep" (aka "Air Mail Special"), "Blue Skies" and a Previn number called "Mulholland Drive," which, in common with other jazz tunes, was based on "I Got Rhythm."

Previn's next dates were in March 1946, when he produced the six Ellington-associated numbers that Sunset collected into the 78 album above. This time, his accomplices were the well-regarded Irving Ashby on guitar and Red Callendar on bass. Ashby was soon to join the King Cole Trio. Previn's playing is sometimes compared to Cole's, although I believe Art Tatum was the stronger influence.

In addition to five Ellington standards, Previn included "Take the 'A' Train" by the Duke's close associate Billy Strayhorn.

In November 1946, Previn went on to make a few recordings as pianist in a group led by alto saxophonist Willie Smith. This set includes "I Found a New Baby" and two takes of "All the Things You Are."

Finally, the download also includes several solo numbers that were recorded by but never issued on Sunset, but were to appear on a Monarch 10-inch LP, along with a few that were not brought out until much later.

All told, there are 16 songs in the set. My source for these materials are lossless needle-drops found on Internet Archive and a 1970s reissue LP from my collection. The 78s can be hissy; my apologies in advance. I substituted the LP dubs where possible.

Mood Ellington

Our second offering today is a remastering of the first album made by Duke Ellington for Columbia, collecting items from 1947. Ellington's greatest records are usually considered to be those he made with the so-called "Blanton-Webster" band earlier in the decade, but there is much to like in the impressionist masterpieces heard in the Mood Ellington LP.

I first posted this early LP back in 2013, and now have had a go at redoing it, in response to a request. As I wrote back then, "Ellington was very interested in tonal colors at the time [i.e., the mid-40s], and his song titles reflect that - here we have 'On a Turquoise Cloud,''Golden Cress' and 'Lady of the Lavender Mist.' For Musicraft he had recorded 'Transbluency,''Magenta Haze,' and 'Blue Abandon,' among others. But there also are straightforward items like 'Three Cent Stomp.' All are unmistakably Ellington."

The link to this LP can be found in the comments on the original post. My transfer comes from a Philips pressing originally issued in Singapore.

Quarantine Songs

Thanks again to reader Eric for his playlist of "Quarantine Songs." Here we have such things as Polly Bergen doing "All Alone (By the Telephone)" and Otis Blackwell with "I Face This World Alone" along with items by Herb Jeffries, the Ink Spots, Brenda Lee and many other favorites. Again, you can find Eric's link in the comments to the Mary Healy post. Good stuff!