Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.

Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G. (also known as Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday) is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1960 featuring a jazz interpretation of Peer Gynt by Grieg and Ellington's tribute to John Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday, co-written by Billy Strayhorn.[2] The album was rereleased on CD as Three Suites along with Ellington's reworking of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker in 1990.

Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G.
Studio album by
Duke Ellington
Releasedc. 1961[1]
RecordedJune 28, 29 & 30, and October 10, 1960 Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, CA
GenreJazz, swing, big band, third stream
LabelColumbia CL 1597 / CS 8397
ProducerIrving Townsend
Duke Ellington chronology
Piano in the Background
(1960)		 Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G.
(1961)		 Unknown Session
(1960)

Reception

The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars.[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]

In the 1960s, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music made a statement, referring to a Swedish law paragraph called "Klassikerskyddet" ("Protection of Classics") in the copyright legislation, that Duke Ellington's jazz versions on the album were "offending to the nordic music culture". Ellington withdrew the album and the case was never tried in court.[4]

In 1992, The New York Times reviewed a live performance of Ellington's Peer Gynt adaption: "The pieces, with their dense and gorgeous harmonies, lend themselves perfectly to live performance" and "the melody kept peeking around creamy harmonies, hurtling up-tempo sections abruptly merged with ballads".[5]

Track listing
Selections from "Peer Gynt" suites No. 1 and 2 written by Edward Grieg adapted by Duke Ellington
  1. "Morning Mood" – 4:24
  2. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" – 2:33
  3. "Solvejg's Song" – 3:59
  4. "Ase's Death" – 3:47
  5. "Anitra's Dance" – 2:58
"Suite Thursday" written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
  1. "Misfit Blues" – 4:09
  2. "Schwiphti" – 3:04
  3. "Zweet Zurzday" – 3:56
  4. "Lay-By" – 4:50
Recorded in Los Angeles on June 28 (tracks 1 & 5), June 29 (tracks 3 & 4), June 30 (track 2), and October 10 (tracks 6–9), 1960.[6]

Personnel

References
  1. Reviewed on March 5, 1961 in The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati, Ohio, p. 65, digitally archived on Newspapers.com, accessed December 31, 2016
  2. A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 28, 2010
  3. Allmusic Review accessed May 28, 2010
  4. Marianne Levin. Lärobok i immaterialrätt (p 167-168), 2011, Nordstedts Juridik. Tionde upplagan. ISBN 978-91-39-20550-0.
  5. Peter Watrous. "Review/Jazz; Variations on a Theme of Ellington", The New York Times, 10 August 1992. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. "1951–1960". ellingtonia.com. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
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