2184. “Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue” by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Also, here’s another performance (not the one I have in my library) where you can really see Paul Gonsalves play:
The man who plays the jaw dropping solo between “Diminuendo in Blue” and “Crescendo in Blue” is Paul Gonsalves In 2,184 songs posted here so far, you’ll be hard pressed to find a more impressive or heroic piece of instrumental performance than the 27 or 28 choruses he plays in this piece before collapsing of exhaustion. His performance was so remarkable that pandemonium literally broke out at the Newport Jazz Festival once their piece was over - indeed, on the longer version of this album, that very next track is called “announcements and pandemonium.” That track is exactly what it sounds like.
The other two pieces are an outstanding relate pair of pieces composed by Ellington in 1938. Gonsalves and Ellington had been developing his solo to link the pieces for years so, while its largely improvised, its based on years of practice.
Listening to his solo is as close as I’ve come to understanding jazz. It really sounds like he’s blowing a piece of his soul out through the saxophone. Listening to his fellow performers and his audiences members grow increasingly excited (even berserk, in the case of the audience) as he plays gives you the idea that, live, this may well have been the greatest moment in music that decade.
Anyhow, give it a listen and prepare to do some gasping.