Laine would also record with a seemingly unending roster of music legends. They include singers, Ray Charles, Mel Tormé, Joe Williams, Tina May and her daughter, Jacqui Dankworth, as well as illustrious instrumentalists, Clark Terry, Gerry Mulligan, George Shearing, Dudley Moore, John Williams and James Galway, to name but a few. This clearly displays her desire to “share the stage” for the good of the music.
While this astonishing multifaceted
stylistic career merits exploring fully and comprehensively I thought it best
(for now) to focus on her many recordings of Ellingtonia throughout her 70+
years as a recording artist.
I have chosen twelve Ellington/Strayhorn
songs recorded between 1954 and 2000 that might give a reasonable insight into
her 46 year period recording and performing Ellingtonia.
1954 I’m Beginning to See the Light from the LP Cleo Laine and Her Orchestra. A nine piece ensemble led and
arranged by John Dankworth with the likes of Tommy Whittle, Eddie Blair, Ronnie
Ross, Max Harris, et al.
1954. I’ve Got it Bad and That Ain’t
Good. Cleo Laine and Johnny
Dankworth an LP with the Johnny Keating Orchestra.
Cleo recorded three versions of
the Tizol/Ellington classic Perdido.
1954. Cleo Lane and John Dankworth - LP with the Johnny Keating Orchestra
1968. If We Lived on the Top of a Mountain – LP
1980. The Incomparable Cleo Laine- Live At The Wavendon Festival - LP.
Liner notes writer, Alun Morgan wrote “Perdido, trombonist Juan Tizol’s most famous
contribution to the jazz library, has developed into a finely wrought showcase
for the Dankworths. There is a hint of Parker’s Scrapple From the Apple and a
general impression of vocal and instrumental ability well beyond the call of
duty”.
1957. Mood Indigo. Meet Cleo Laine.
This features an inventive Dankworth backing of just 4 horns. Alto, tenor,
baritone saxes and trumpet.
There are two recordings of It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That
Swing.
1991. Jazz, CD. Recorded in NYC. With guests, Clark Terry, Toots
Thielemans, Jay Leonhart, et al.
2000. Jazz at the Globe CD. This
Dankworth “take no prisoners” romp of a treatment has the John and Alec
Dankworth Generation Band at the fore. Guest vocalist, Tina May, joins in on
scatting vocals as well as all the band members taking a chorus each.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London has seen nothing like it since.
1991. Just a Sittin’ and a Rockin’. From Jazz CD. Solo by Clark
Terry.
2000. Take All My Loves. A lesser known Ellington/Strayhorn offering from the Ellington 1957 Such Sweet Thunder LP. Also on the Jazz at the Globe CD.
1994. Creole Love Song- from Blue and
Sentimental CD. Recorded in NYC with Gerry Mulligan, George Shearing, Joe
Williams, Mike Renzi, et al.
1995. The Solitude CD was recorded in NYC with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra just one year before Mercer’s untimely passing in 1996. Chock full of Ellington and Strayhorn classics, too numerous to mention. One that stands out for me was Take The A Train, a “flag waver” with a plenitude of ensemble heroics along with nifty and notey duets with Cleo and Dankworth’s alto sax. The arrangements were all done by Dankworth and fellow Brits, Stan Tracey and Eddie Harvey. An epic recording and collection of Cleo’s finest Ellingtonia, to be sure. Frank Griffith.
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