EW's GRADE
A-

Details Lead Performance: Duke Ellington

A major reissue, Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931 is the first-ever complete set of these recordings. Such masterworks as ''Creole Rhapsody'' and ''Black Beauty'' stand alongside delightful rarities (including numbers with the legendary Bill ''Bojangles'' Robinson), plus some not-so- delightful ones (a white singer, Dick Robertson, affecting a stereotypical black dialect on ''Is That Religion?''). Ellington's genius for orchestration elevates them all. A-

Originally posted Dec 02, 1994 Published in issue #251 Dec 02, 1994 Order article reprints

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