The Great Summit: The Complete Sessions

So Ellington and Armstrong join hands, backed by the latter's band (Trummy Young on trombone, Barney Bigard on clarinet, Mort Herbert on bass, and Danny Barcelona on drums), tackling 17 of Duke's tunes. Armstrong's sweet, rolling vocal growl gives the tunes endless hugs, just as his band both cuts plump solos and then backs way off so Ellington can throw down alternately swinging and unapologetically modernist solos himself. What distinguishes this two-CD set from the originally issued, one-CD Complete Session is the second disc, The Making of the Great Summit. What's that worth? Well, it's a fan's dream, with studio chatter, with myriad false starts and several alternate complete takes ("In a Mellow Tone," "Duke's Place," and "Drop Me Off in Harlem"). Pure gold if you love Duke and Louis separately--unalloyed platinum if you love them (or just the thought of them) together. --Andrew Bartlett