The Suites, New York 1968 & 1970 is volume five of The Private Collection, a series of compilation albums by Duke Ellington from his archive of unreleased music, released on the Saja label in 1988. The album includes "The Degas Suite", an unreleased soundtrack for an unfinished film consisting of paintings of horse races.
Also included is "The River", which was composed to accompany a ballet by Alvin Ailey that premiered on June 25, 1970, at New York State Theater in Lincoln Center.
Reception The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "Ellington is mostly the lead voice but his star sidemen are heard from on these formerly very rare and somewhat unusual performances. Clearly his genius was strong enough to fill three lifetimes full of new music and this CD contains some melodies that might have been more significant if he had lived long enough to find a place for them."
Track listing
Recorded at National Recording Studio, New York on November 6, 1968 (tracks 1.1–1.11), November 23, 1968 (track 1.1), December 3, 1968 (track 1.7), at Universal Studios, Chicago on May 25, 1970 (tracks 2.1–2.5 & 2.12), at National Recording Studio, New York on June 3, 1970 (tracks 2.7–2.10), June 8, 1970 (track 2.6) and June 15, 1970 (track 2.11).
Personnel Duke Ellington – piano Cat Anderson – trumpet Dave Burns – trumpet Willie Cook – trumpet Mercer Ellington – trumpet Money Johnson – trumpet Frank Stone – trumpet Cootie Williams – trumpet Lawrence Brown – trombone Buster Cooper – trombone Cliff Heathers – trombone Chuck Connors – bass trombone Johnny Hodges – alto saxophone Russell Procope – alto saxophone, clarinet Norris Turney – alto saxophone, flute Harold Ashby – tenor saxophone Paul Gonsalves – tenor saxophone Harry Carney – baritone saxophone Jeff Castleman – double bass Joe Benjamin – drums Rufus "Speedy" Jones – drums Elayne Jones – timpani Walter Rosenberg – glockenspiel Dave Fitz – xylophone, marimba
References