Duke Ellington - Live at the Tivoli Gardens

Amazon.com Call him the Duke of Denmark, as this is the second superb Ellington performance recorded in that country to be released in 2003 alone. It's also an appropriate follow-up to The Intimate Duke Ellington; whereas the latter showcases Ellington as a solo pianist and in small group settings, Live at the Tivoli Gardens features the Ellington Orchestra in all its splendor. It includes two approximately 70-minute sets recorded a few days apart in 1971, when the Duke was 72. But although the repertoire ("Take the 'A' Train," "Satin Doll," and a medley of other familiar Ellington compositions, along with some less familiar fare) is similar, the performances are hardly identical--no surprise there, considering the presence of superb improvisers like trumpeter Cootie Williams and saxophonists Paul Gonsalves and the great Ben Webster. The sound quality, while decent, is nowhere near as vivid as on, say, the Keith Jarrett Trio's recent DVD releases, but little matter. When it comes to music of this caliber, we're lucky that it exists at all. --Sam Graham