116. Duke Ellington / Such Sweet Thunder (1957)

In 1999, Such Sweet Thunder was released on CD, expanded and including outtakes. It's a fantastic stereo reconstruction of the originally intended program, complete with inter-track studio ambience akin to a concert hall, formerly available only in mono due to a flawed production. The album's original 12 selections are Duke's musical interpretations of various Shakespearean characters. It's another of his concept pieces, a tone parallel like Black, Brown, and Beige. The music is filled with quirky grinners, as in "Lady Mac," where Duke writes new personality into Lady Macbeth. It shows an indulgently swinging streak to the infamous noblewoman, hitherto unseen on stage. And who's to say that's incorrect? It's refreshing. Most notably, the Ellington-Strayhorn team uses soloists in the band to great effect in pieces like "Sonnet for Caesar," the first of four such sonnets on the album that emulate the 14 line poetic form. The soloists actually play the characters with their instruments, so I wonder, wryly, if the union rep had anything to say about that. "Caesar" features Sam Woodyard imparting an appropriately martial atmosphere while Jimmy Hamilton takes the lead (literally) to portray history's great general in a stately and beauteous, but ultimately tragic, melody. The arrangements for other songs continue the trend of band-as-cast in brilliant works like "Up and Down." Here, Puck (played by Clark Terry) quotes mischievously while working the play's couples into increasingly awkward situations. Just three examples, there are nine more to enjoy. It's ambitious, and the CD release is a treasure. It's sound is brilliantly spacious and clear, and we have all the session's complete takes in one place..  

65. Clark Terry Quintet / Serenade to a Bus Seat (1957)

Whew! Nice rekkid. If you're wondering, the title is an homage to Terry's tenure in the Duke Ellington band. With Johnny Griffin on loan from Blue Note, a pre-flugelhorn Terry teamed up with Philly Joe, Paul Chambers, and Wynton Kelly to record this loosely swinging romp through the blues, bop, and ballads. It's quintessential hard bop, the kind of album your shelf should feel empty without -- for a comparison, this album feels very similar to Adderley's Somethin' Else, Davis' Steamin', or Sonny Clark's Cool Struttin'. Listen to Griffin and Terry trade fours on "Digits" and "Boardwalk," or the blizzard of unison playing in Charlie Parker's "Donna." There is a lot of familiarity between these musicians, especially the rhythm section which crystallized together under Miles Davis the previous year, and it comes through in the music. "Cruising" is a bluesy gem late on the second side, followed by a short but spicy "That Old Black Magic," which was given a shake of Latin rhythm for good measure. Terry also displays his prowess as composer on cuts like the beautiful the title track, "Boomerang," or "Boardwalk."