Tribute To Ellington (1999)

"To their great credit, Barenboim and friends have enlisted Cliff Colnot as arranger, and his orchestrations prove original, evocative and shrewdly conceived. Thus Barenboim's ensemble produces a lush and bluesy "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me," a haunting and ethereal "Prelude to a Kiss" and a tour de force of chamber-orchestra color in Billy Strayhorn's "Take the `A' Train. Wisely, Barenboim doesn't attempt to offer bona fide jazz-piano solos but, instead, plays elegant obbligatos. These are surrounded by idiomatic jazz phrasings from CSO principal clarinetist Larry Combs, trumpeter Amir El Saffar, jazz clarinetist Don Bryon, singer Dianne Reeves and other top-notch players. More than just a rote crossover recording, this Ellington tribute proves that the best concert versions of jazz standards can shed new light on familiar material, without compromising the jazz spirit of the originals". (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune).

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