1001 Albums Summary

★ (Blackstar) (2016) is the 26th studio album by David Bowie; released on 8 January, only two days before his death on 10 January 2016. The album only contains seven tracks, three of which were released as singles - Blackstar, Lazarus and I Can’t Give Everything Away. The album was recorded while Bowie was undergoing treatment for the liver cancer that would ultimately be the cause of his death. The music is an experimental mix of jazz, rock, electronica, funk and hip-hop overlayed with Bowie’s dark and somewhat brooding lyrics. I don’t own a copy of the album so listened to it three times on Spotify before rating it (I’d previously only listened to it once). It’s quite a difficult album to rate being so closely connected to Bowie’s death. It’s quite an emotional listen and has layers of complexity. Even the tracks chosen to be singles are not easy listens. The last album I rated was Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings. If that album was ‘nice’, this is something else entirely. Raw, complex, intelligent and confronting. A gift from a dying man. Track listing: Blackstar - a haunting mix of genres - the first half reminded me of Radiohead- 4/5; ’Tis a Pity She Was a Whore - lots of tension sitting between Bowie’s vocal and the chaos of the jazz backing track - 3/5; Lazarus - this gave me The Cure vibes so strong that I Googled it and found DAVID BOWIE - THE CURE A forest for Lazarus (acoustic) on YouTube - 4/5; Sue (Or in a Season of Crime) - drum’n’bass rhythms aren’t my natural habitat but they provide an interesting foil to Bowie’s subdued vocals - 3/5; Girl Loves Me - “Where the fuck did Monday go?” - 3/5 Dollar Days - the most fragile track on the album - 4/5; I Can’t Give Everything Away - melodic and upbeat rhythm but heartfelt lyrics 4/5

Ellington at Newport (1956) is a live album by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra recorded on the evening of 7th and early morning of 8th June 1956 at Newport Jazz Festival. My Dad was a jazz fan and I’ve still got a few of his records, but nothing by Duke Ellington. I don’t know if that’s because he didn’t own any (from memory he was more into trad jazz than swing) or just because they didn’t make it into my record collection before I left home. I’ve got a soft spot for jazz and although it’s not my most listened to genre every time I do I think I should listen to more! This is an interesting one. Ellington’s big band swing style of jazz was a bit passé by the time he played Newport in 1956. It was difficult to maintain a big band with poor record sales and declining fortunes. Ellington’s glory days seemed to be behind him. But then he plays Newport and apparently the crowd go wild. Or at least, wild in a sedate middle-class suburban way. Someone started dancing! The bands performance was pivotal in re-energising Ellington’s stalling career. The highlight being the nearly 15 minute rendition of Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue featuring an incredible solo from tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves. According to 'The story of Ellington at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival' “Elaine Anderson had started dancing in the aisle near the stage while Gonsalves kept preaching the blues. Her dance was captured by the photographers in the photo pit and were included in coverage of the event as well as on the album cover when the album Ellington at Newport ‘56 was issued. At the time her identity was not known, but Morton was able to uncover her story of a one-time Hollywood hopeful starlet who had settled into the somewhat frustrating live of a wife and mother.” There were many microphones set up on stage to capture the performance, and following their success, the live album Ellington at Newport was rushed out to much critical acclaim. However, it later transpired that the original album wasn’t the exactly the performance as captured on the day. Ellington had been dissatisfied with the rendition of his Newport Jazz Festival Suite (Festival Junction; Blues To Be There; and Newport Up) which had been written especially to mark the occasion so decided to improve them in the studio; to add to that it turned out that Gonsalves hadn’t been playing into the correct mic, so the highlight of the set was barely audible. Again his solo was recreated in the studio and then the audiences reaction was overlaid over the top to disguise any changes in audio quality. An actual recording of Gonsalves solo was found years later as the Newport set had also been part of a radio broadcast from the festival and the radio mics did pick up the audio. It was restored and a longer version of the album was released as Ellington at Newport (Complete) in 1999. The version that I listened to for my review was a digital release from 2014 which is on Spotify as Ellington at Newport: The Original Album but has more tracks than the original. I’m not clear where it takes it’s audio from - the original ‘tidied-up’ 1956 release, or the true remastered audio from the 1999 release. In any either case it’s a great listen and another to add to my increasingly long wish list. Note the original 1956 release has the Newport Jazz Festival Suite (Festival Junction; Blues To Be There; and, Newport Up) on side A and Jeep’s Blues and Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue on Side B. The 1999 complete version is expanded to 40 tracks, not all of which were performed at the festival. Track listing (2014 version on Spotify): Father Norman O’Connor Introduces Duke Ellington Festival Junction - 5/5; Blues To Be There - 4/5; Newport Up - 4/5; Jeep's Blues - 4/5; Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue - 5/5; Take The "A" Train - 5/5 Sophisticated Lady - 4/5 I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) - 4/5; Skin Deep- 5/5