Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.

Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G.
Studio album by Duke Ellington
Released	1960
Recorded	June 28, 29 & 30, and October 10, 1960
Genre	Jazz
Label	Columbia
Duke Ellington chronology
Piano in the Background (1960) Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G. (1960) Unknown Session (1960)

Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G. (also known as Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday) is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1960 featuring a jazz interpretation of "Peer Gynt" by Grieg and Ellington's tribute to John Steinbeck's "Sweet Thursday".^[1] The album was rereleased on CD as Three Suites along with Ellington's reworking of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" in 1990.

Reception

The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

In the 1960s, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music made a statement, referring to a Swedish paragraph called "Klassikerskyddet" ("Protection of Classics") in the copyright legislation, that Duke Ellington's jazz versions on the album were "offending to the nordic music culture". Ellington withdrew the album and the case was never tried in court.^[3]

In 1992, The New York Times reviewed a live performance of the Per Gynt-suites that "the pieces, with their dense and gorgeous harmonies, lend themselves perfectly to live performance" and "the melody kept peeking around creamy harmonies, hurtling up-tempo sections abruptly merged with ballads".^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated

1. "Morning Mood" (Grieg) - 4:24
2. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Grieg) - 2:33
3. "Solvejg's Song" (Grieg) - 3:59
4. "Ase's Death" (Grieg) - 3:47
5. "Anitra's Dance" (Grieg) - 2:58
6. "Misfit Blues" - 4:09
7. "Schwiphti" - 3:04
8. "Zweet Zurzday" - 3:56
9. "Lay-By" - 4:50

• Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles on June 28 (tracks 1 & 5), June 29 (tracks 3 & 4), June 30 (track 2), and October 10 (tracks 6-9), 1960.

Personnel

• Duke Ellington – piano
• Willie Cook, Fats Ford, Eddie Mullins, Ray Nance, Gerald Wilson (track 2) - trumpet
• Lawrence Brown, Matthew Gee, Booty Wood, Britt Woodman (tracks 1-5) - trombone
• Juan Tizol - valve trombone
• Jimmy Hamilton - clarinet, tenor saxophone
• Johnny Hodges (tracks 1-5), Paul Horn (tracks 6-9) - alto saxophone
• Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet
• Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone
• Harry Carney - baritone saxophone
• Aaron Bell - bass
• Sam Woodyard - drums

References

1. A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 28, 2010
2. Allmusic Review accessed May 28, 2010
3. Marianne Levin. Lärobok i immaterialrätt (p 167-168), 2011, Nordstedts Juridik. Tionde upplagan. ISBN 978-91-39-20550-0.
4. Peter Watrous. "Review/Jazz; Variations on a Theme of Ellington", The New York Times, 10 August 1992. Retrieved 17 April 2014.