Duke Ellington › Latin American Suite

Personnel includes: Duke Ellington, Buster Cooper, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, Lawrence Brown.

Principally recorded in New York, New York in 1968. Originally released on Fantasy (8419). Includes liner notes by Stanley Dance.

Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1990, Fantasy Studios).

The positively ebullient LATIN AMERICAN SUITE was recorded primarily in New York in the middle of the late-1960's--shortly after the band's return to the United States from their first trip to South America, where the Ellington band played Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. LATIN AMERICAN SUITE shows the profound affect the one-month tour had on the band as well as on Ellington's compositions--most of the tunes here were written during the tour. The Ellington-penned "Chico Cuadradino" features a boisterous trombone solo by Buster Cooper, while the up-tempo opener "Oclupaca," bears horn stabs that would fit right in with the most brash Henry Mancini composition.

In homage to one country visited during this tour is "Tina," named for Argentina. The composition flirts with that nation's national obsession, the tango. Perhaps most impressive and kinetic of all on this heated recorded is the closing number, "Brasilliance," a free and frenetic composition Ellington wrote as a nod to the industrial energy of Sao Paolo.

Genre:

• Pop / Rock

Music Categories:

• Rock & Pop: Film Composers