Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins (LP, Impulse)

“One of the great Ellington albums, one of the great Hawkins albums and one of the great albums of the 1960s.” This was The New York Times praise for Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins only recorded encounter. Hawkins meeting with Ellington and an all-star group taken out of the big band does feature such greats as Ray Nance on cornet and violin, trombonist Lawrence Brown, altoist Johnny Hodges, and baritonist Harry Carney. High points include an exuberant The Jeep Is Jumpin’, an interesting remake of Mood Indigo, and a clutch of newly-composed Ellington pieces. Verves Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from the original analog tapes mastered by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QPR. The series is supervised by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, and releases are presented in deluxe gatefold tip-on packaging.