The Ellington part of the program (the title track is an original, and there is also a recitation and Mingus’ “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love”) spans from the ’20s to the ’70s. The horn arrangements and solos are brash and effective, with exotic flourishes that generally come off quite well. I enjoyed the orchestration of “Money Jungle” but have to report that both the jazz-rock “Blue Pepper” and some of the early tunes were a bit stiff, rhythmically.
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