Such Sweet Thunder

In pieces both short and long, whether evoking Prohibition-era Harlem with “Black and Tan Fantasy” in 1927 or summoning the grandeur of African American history with “Black, Brown & Beige” in 1943, Duke Ellington often organized his music around programmatic themes. *Such Sweet Thunder*, from 1957, is one of the more topically lighthearted examples, though in musical terms it ranks among his most powerful, imaginative works. It’s co-credited in its entirety to Ellington and his chief creative partner from 1939 to 1967, the great Billy Strayhorn. And the theme is Shakespeare, as in: “I never heard so musical a discord, such sweet thunder” (*A Midsummer Night’s Dream*, Act 4, Scene 1). Thunder is a good description of the unison riff that opens the title track, supported by the deep metaphysical swing of bassist Jimmy Woode and drummer Sam Woodyard. Blues form is the underpinning here, amid a plethora of tone colors and timbres (Ray Nance contributes the trumpet solo). As always, Ellington and Strayhorn write to the strengths of individual players, and this edition of the orchestra is rich in that regard. Jimmy Hamilton’s clarinet on “Sonnet for Caesar,” Britt Woodman’s trombone on “Sonnet to Hank Cinq,” Cat Anderson’s ultra-high note trumpet on “Madness in Great Ones,” Clark Terry making grand trumpet entrances on “Lady Mac” and “Up and Down, Up and Down” (with Nance this time on violin): Personalities like these always took Duke’s music and made it monumental. It doesn’t get better than the beautiful three-clarinet orchestration of “Sonnet in Search of a Moor,” or Harry Carney’s baritone sax feature “The Telecasters,” or trombonist Quentin “Butter” Jackson digging into “Sonnet for Sister Kate.” But even all this feels like a warm-up to the two features for alto saxophone legend Johnny Hodges: Strayhorn’s “The Star-Crossed Lovers,” among a half-dozen of the greatest jazz ballads ever written, and the slow, ultra-hip “Half the Fun,” with a sultry habanera beat that seems to predict *Far East Suite* from a decade later. Paul Gonsalves, tenor sax star of *Ellington at Newport* from the previous year, finishes up brightly with the beboppish “Circle of Fourths.” The CD reissue, produced by jazz history guru Phil Schaap, added stereo mixes of the original mono tracks, plus unreleased numbers from the period (“A Flat Minor” is actually in F major, for those keeping track). The concluding take of “Pretty Girl” (as “The Star-Crossed Lovers” was first known) is in fact three takes, combined with false starts and studio chat. It’s all worth taking in.

Such Sweet Thunder was originally announced as a stereo and mono release, but only showed up in mono thanks to the technical problems inherent in early stereo in creating a concert-like ambience in which the performance seemed continuous.