Playlist, Week of 2020-12-13

Last week I talked about my plans to dig in deep to Duke Ellington... you can see the beginnings of that in this week's list, wherein I cranked through most of the 10 CDs of the so-called "Private Collection," sessions from Ellington's stockpile of recordings he paid for himself that were released posthumously... I understand that there are lot more of these that have come out since this initial outpouring, and that's an area for future investigation... overall, these discs are wonderful... many earlier versions of pieces that came out, many reworkings of Ellington standards, a revisit to "Black, Brown, and Beige," and two fantastic longer suites ("The Degas Suite" and "The River")... much to explore here... and damn, two of the late suites that were released, The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse and New Orleans Suite, are just brilliant... As my plans for listening in 2021 firm up, I have to say that in addition to Ellington I'll be digging deep (again) into Miles Davis, especially the early stuff... I plan on rereading Jack Chambers's book Milestones as an accompaniment... I feel way more familiar with Miles's work overall than I do with later Ellington... anyway: 2021: Duke and Miles: bring it on!

Playlist 2020-12-14:

*Muhal Richard Abrams: Spiral: Live at Montreux 1978 (sides 1, 2)
*Marshall Allen/Elliott Levin/Tim Harding/Sam Byrd: 2007-12-13 Richmond VA (CDR)
*Area: Maledetti (Maudits) (side 2)
*Area: Event '76 (side 1)
*Kevin Ayers: Joy of a Toy (side 1)
*Anthony Braxton: The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (side 1)
*Anthony Braxton: Three Orchestras (GTM) 1998
*Anthony Braxton: Sonic Genome (2019-10-31 Berlin) (CDR)
*Rodger Coleman and Sam Byrd: 2015-05-14 Nashville (wav) track 6
*Miles Davis: Rare Miles (CDR compilation) (disc 1)
*Miles Davis: Chronicle: The Complete Prestige Recordings 1951-1956 (discs 1, 2)
*Miles Davis: Miles in the Sky
*Duke Ellington: Brunswick-Vocalion Rarities (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Complete Duke Ellington, Vol. 2: 1928-1930 (sides 2, 3)
*Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: 1939-40 (sides 1, 2)
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 1: Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 2: Dance Sessions, California, 1958
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 3: Studio Sessions, New York 1962
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 4: Studio Sessions, New York 1963
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 5: The Suites
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 6: Dance Dates, California 1958
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 7: Studio Sessions, Chicago 1957, New York 1962
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 8: Studio Sessions, 1957-1967
*Duke Ellington: The Private Collection, Vol. 9: Studio Sessions, New York 1968
*Duke Ellington: New Orleans Suite
*Duke Ellington: The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
*Grateful Dead: 1973-12-06 Cleveland (CDR) "Dark Star"
*Hatfield and the North: The Rotters’ Club (side 2)
*Earl Hines: Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington (side 3)
*Keith Jarrett: Tribute (disc 2)
*George Jones and the Jones Boys: Live in Texas 1965
*Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (disc 2)
*Miles Okazaki: Trickster
*Alexander von Schlippenbach: Monk's Casino (The Complete Works of Thelonious Monk) (disc 1)
*Tyshawn Sorey: Pillars (disc 3)
*Various artists: Ad-Rock & Mike D's Alphabetical Jukebox (CDR compilation) (discs 21, 22, 23)