Been spending more time with Duke Ellington over the last year or two, and I think I've hit most of the "big" music, the stuff that basic Duke fans should at least hear to get a sense of his scope, style, and skill...

But I hadn't listened to Such Sweet Thunder yet... until this morning.

Wow.

Duke's arrangements are at their peak here. "Sonnet for Caesar" is really quite different from anything I've heard in the Duke catalog - melody is much more angular and twisting than in "easier" Duke. He's really showing off his composer hat, here, playing with rhythms that are left slightly askew (Lady Mac), using the orchestra as a real color palette.

Nothing he hasn't done before, but I don't think I've heard so clearly on one set of tunes from him before. Can't wait to listen through this again and again over the next few days. Thoughts on the work?

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~