Ellington, Duke
Second Sacred Concert
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

Sealed 1974 2LP Gatefold Original. "I Think Of Myself As A Messenger Boy," Wrote Duke Ellington, "One Who Tries To Bring Messages To People, Not People Who Have Never Heard Of God, But Those Who Were Raised More Or Less With The Guidance Of The Church." With That As His Mission In His Last Decade, Ellington Put Together A Series Of Three Sacred Concerts, The Second Of Which Is A Far More Extensive And Adventurous Testament To His Faith Than His First Or Third. This Time, The Material Is Fresh, Not A Patchwork Of Old And New Like The First Concert -- And In An Attempt To Be As Ecumenical As Possible, Ellington Reaches For Novel Techniques And Sounds Beyond His Usual Big Band Spectrum. After A Passage Of Nearly Formless Chaos Representing The Void Before "The Creation" (Shades Of Haydn's "The Creation"), The Chorus Enters In "Supreme Being" With An Upward Glide, And Recites The Text As If In A Service. "Something 'Bout Believing" Has The Chorus Reciting A Preachy Message In Time To The Beat, And In "It's Freedom," Ellington Gives Himself A Spoken Sermonette, A Moving Tribute To His Recently Departed Alter Ego Billy Strayhorn. Keeping In Tune With The Times, Ellington Frequently Plays An Electric Piano Instead Of His Usual Grand Piano, His Deft Light Touch And Unique Sense Of Time Still Very Much Evident On The Electric Instrument....." Richard S. Ginell, AMG.