New Orleans Suite

New Orleans Suite is the eighth studio album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970.[1] The album features the final recordings of longtime Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died between the album's two recording sessions.[2] The album won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band.[3]

New Orleans Suite
Studio album by
Duke Ellington
Released1970
RecordedApril 27 & May 13, 1970
StudioNational Recording Studio, New York City
GenreJazz
LabelAtlantic
Duke Ellington chronology
The Pianist
(1966–70)		 New Orleans Suite
(1970)		 Orchestral Works
(1970)

The suite was commissioned by George Wein for the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival.[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Downbeat[4]
Penguin Guide to Jazz[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[6]
Allmusic[7]

Dan Morgenstern's glowing review of the album in 1971 for Downbeat awarded it five stars. "The music is evocative, highly atmospheric and marked throughout by the gorgeous ensemble textures that set this orchestra apart from every other big band in the history of jazz", he wrote. "This is a great record, and by any standard one of the major musical events of 1971." Morgenstern had praise for several of the soloists, especially Johnny Hodges (in his swan song), Paul Gonsalves' "profoundly emotional" tribute to both Sidney Becheet and Hodges, Cootie Williams, Norris Turney, and Harold Ashby.[4]

In his review for Sounds, Jack Hutton remarked that "a Creole influence permeates the work, a lazy Delta feel laden with nostalgic sadness which is a probably a[sic] truer reflection of the historic city than the good-time trad which has helped to popularise it." He praised the solos of Norris Turney, criticized those of Cootie Williams, and concluded that "This suite, while it doesn't rank with Ellington's greatest works, proves that the piano player is still vitally creative well into his seventies."[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz includes the album as part of its suggested "Core Collection," and awards it a four-star rating.[5] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars, dismissing it as "interesting if not essential music with a few memorable themes being the main reason to acquire this release".[7]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington.

  1. "Blues for New Orleans" - 7:40
  2. "Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies" - 4:00
  3. "Portrait of Louis Armstrong" - 3:02
  4. "Thanks for the Beautiful Land on the Delta" - 3:38
  5. "Portrait of Wellman Braud" - 4:05
  6. "Second Line" - 6:00
  7. "Portrait of Sidney Bechet" - 3:55
  8. "Aristocracy a la Jean Lafitte" - 3:57
  9. "Portrait of Mahalia Jackson" - 4:53
  • Recorded at National Recording Studio in New York, NY on April 27 (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 & 8) and May 13 (tracks 3, 5, 7 & 9), 1970.

Personnel
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References
  1. A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine accessed April 13, 2010
  2. Hutton, Jack (28 August 1971). "Jazz Albums". Sounds. Spotlight Publications. p. 10.
  3. Grammy Awards Database
  4. Morgenstern, D. Downbeat Magazine accessed April 24, 2020
  5. Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008) [1992]. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 439. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
  6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 69. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  7. Yanow, S. Allmusic Review accessed April 13, 2010
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