Ellington, Duke: Meets Coleman Hawkins (Acoustic Sounds Series) LP

Collaborative albums such as this one have always been something of a stunt on the part of the record label, with the artists themselves usually stuck with too little time to work out something that would easily act as a functional compromise. Many of these albums, then, have faded away with time. Impulse, however, had more than its share of solid collaborations including this lone encounter from jazz giants Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins. Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins is a lot of fun, whether it's the daffy cut-up of "Limbo Jazz" or the slow New Orleans smoke of "Wanderlust." All present turn in nice performances on this set of evergreen Ellington numbers. This all-analog 180g vinyl LP reissue was mastered from the original analog tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, pressed at QRP, and comes housed in a Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket.

"One of the great Ellington albums, one of the great Hawkins albums and one of the great albums of the 1960s." – The New York Times