Duke Ellington

In 1962, composer and pianist Duke Ellington (1899-1974) had just turned 63 and had already spent thirty-five hugely successful years as a swing big-band leader. In September he entered the studio with a stripped-down trio: his own piano, Charlie Mingus on bass and Max Roach on drums. It wasn't the first time he'd done this (the previous year Ellington had tried his hand at a trio format on the LP "Piano In The Foreground"), but this time the sheer skill of the musicians involved elevates the record to the status of a major musical event.

Belonging to the generation after Ellington, Roach (38) and Mingus (40) were, at the time of "Money Jungle", among the leading figures of hard bop and jazz avant-garde. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable album, in which the three distinct musical sensibilities converge into a swing-inflected hard bop, spiced here and there with elements drawn from avant-garde jazz. The challenge Ellington takes on by recording with two much younger artists is one he clearly wins: he slots naturally into the jazz language of 1962 while still holding on to his own unmistakable artistic identity. Every song is written by Ellington, giving "Money Jungle" a clearly defined musical framework — an album firmly built around the pianist and his compositional and performing touchstones, only partly open to new, tightly contained sonic provocations.

The personal and artistic dynamics that played out in the recording studio inevitably shaped the way this unprecedented trio interpreted the music. In particular, the tensions stemming from Mingus's notoriously difficult, combative temperament — he reportedly objected to the album's overly conventional nature — leave their mark on the tracks. The bassist was, after all, embracing avant-garde jazz at the time and struggled to adapt to the more straightforward tunes chosen for this LP's sessions. Roach too was experimenting with new forms of jazz in that period, but his calmer, more adaptable nature meant he went along without resistance to Ellington's less adventurous ideas. As proof of this, Mingus's bass runs through nearly the whole album with an eclectic style that almost clashes with the other two instruments; the overall balance, however, is restored by the solid, sharp playing of Roach's drums. In this context, the bass becomes an element that, boldly pushing back against piano and drums in a kind of fruitful sonic dispute, generates a strikingly compelling creative friction.

The track that best captures this collective dynamic is "Money Jungle" (the title track, written by Ellington specifically for this LP), cleverly poised on the border between hard bop and avant-garde jazz. It stands as the album's most turbulent moment, with Mingus restless, insistent and edgy. He pushes the sound of his instrument so close to that of an acoustic guitar that he strips the strings of the double bass's typical depth. Mingus also acts, at times, like a soloist, vying with the piano for the listener's attention with obstinate, quick, cutting notes that ring out with unruly force. Roach plays in a style reminiscent of Elvin Jones's polyrhythms, able to anchor the track's irregular course to a compelling groove, driven by exuberant yet carefully considered invention. Ellington, for his part, delivers the album's freest and most unconventional performance here, spinning out ideas, notes and chords that are consistently interesting, never predictable, always engaging.

"Flourette Africaine" (also written for the occasion) likewise steps outside hard bop conventions to venture into the then-new territory of modal jazz. It's a track steeped in a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere that closely recalls the compositions of Erik Satie. Ellington's piano expands certain sections of the main theme, turning them into brief, blurred improvisations before cyclically returning to the initial melody. Worth noting are the two chords (at 1:30 and 1:44) that deliberately clash, in force and intensity, with the piece's delicate, muffled air. The bass mimics the buzz of a bee around the flower that gives the track its name, conjuring a vivid sonic image that is certainly one of the most captivating and moving moments on the whole album. The drums contribute to the flawless success of "Flourette Africaine", their sound softened by mallets and transformed into that of African drums, in an intimate, tribal dance played with sensitivity across tom-toms, snare and timpani.

"Very Special", composed by the pianist for this album, pulls the listener into an imaginative hard bop colored by classic Ellingtonian mood: a medium tempo that is both playful and reflective at once. Ellington's solo flows smoothly and coherently, repeatedly edging toward the blues with breezy good cheer. Mingus, seemingly irritated, pushes back against the song's overall flow, drifting freely in and out of the prevailing walking bass.

"Warm Valley" revisits a slow swing number written by the pianist in 1940, presented here in the same sweet, relaxed guise, perhaps sticking a little too closely to the original. Ellington plays solo for half the track, retracing the theme that in 1940 had been carried by horns. The other two trio members serve as a discreet backdrop for the second half, steeped in melancholy thanks to Roach's brushes (used on the cymbals too, in place of sticks).

"Wig Wise", written by Ellington for this record, draws on stylistic and melodic themes already well established in his past repertoire, translated here with measured verve into the language of hard bop. The piece is built around the intervals and the spaces deliberately left empty by the piano in the arrangement, creating a dynamic, pleasingly irregular rhythm of stops and restarts. A classy accompaniment rounds out the track: enriched with flair by Mingus through frequent glissandi along the bass's neck, it also finds Roach lively, measured and impeccably inventive on drums.

"Caravan", a classic Ellingtonian swing number from 1937, is recast here in a hard-bop setting, losing some of its characteristic Eastern flavor but gaining energy and immediacy. Largely unchanged in intent, this new version has the piano stand in for the horns (both in the theme and in the improvisation). During the solo, fragments of the theme are seized upon and reworked by Ellington through pianistic flourishes full of oblique imagination, before regrouping into the theme ahead of new digressions. The pianist carries out these sonic excursions, with their vaguely exotic swing flavor, through block chords occasionally punctuated by single notes.

"Solitude", like the preceding "Caravan", is an Ellington swing standard (again a slow one) from 1934, later covered by countless artists. In the original, unison horns carry the arrangement, whereas here it's led by the piano with thoughtful, expressive serenity. The piano solo departs from the original by following broad, luminous, poetic digressions that at times stray beyond the ballad form.

In closing, it's worth noting that on "Money Jungle" Ellington doesn't give Roach or Mingus any solos, missing the chance to make an even more modern, well-rounded record. Both the length of the individual tracks and the album as a whole (around 30 minutes) fall below the average for early-1960s jazz records. The CD version, however, includes several outtakes drawn from the recording sessions.

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16/03/2026