SwingDJs

What are some of your favorite versions of In A Mellow Tone? I really like this tune, and
I'm always on the lookout for good new versions. So far I have versions by Duke Ellington w/Louis Armstrong, Corner Pocket, Betty Roche, Ernestine Anderson, Budd Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald, a couple of Oscar Peterson recordings, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Ben Webster,
Hank Crawford, and Count Basie. I'm especially interested in versions that would be good
to DJ at dances (many of the versions I have already aren't).

rif wrote:What are some of your favorite versions of In A Mellow Tone?

I ran across a smaller group Ellington version on an LP titled "Happy Reunion" (1964, Dr Jazz label) that I really dig..

If I'm not mistaken, Gene Harris has a pretty good version.

My favorite versions of "In A Mellowtone" to DJ currently are by:

- Ray Anthony - "Swing Back To The 40s"
- Duke Ellington - "Blanton-Webster Band"
- Betty Roche - "Take The A-Train"

My CD books are actually packed already for Austin, but when I get back I can thoroughly go through them to job my memory about other versions I enjoy playing. It is such a great song after all!

Jesse

My current favorite is the Ben Webster version that's on Impulsively Ellington... Not sure if it's the same one you're referring to but it really kicks!

I have to second both Ernestine Anderson's version and Ray Anthony's version. Probably the two I play the most.

Ter

some other versions to add to the mix are:

Charlie Shavers _The Last Session
Coleman Hawkins _The Genius of Coleman Hawkins
Ray Anthony _Swing Back to the 40's
Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges _In A Mellotone
The Mills Brothers _The Best of the DECCA Years
Nat King Cole _At The Sands _13
New York AllStars _Plays Broadway
Johnny Hodges _Passion Flower 1940-46

although i must confess that i'm still looking for the definitive basie version.
oh, another version, in the pittsburgh mode,
is from Erroll Garner's _The Original Misty.

Molly Mason sings it on the Hotfoot Club CD, I believe. The problem is, her voice is just slightly off pitch in places, at least I think so.

Of all of the versions I have heard the one that has stuck with me through the years as my favorite is the first one I ever heard. Our swing scene was brand new - only about three months old. Due to a mishap in scheduling, Indigo Swing was left without a Saturday night booking so I managed to pick them up for cheep at the height of their popularity. We had nine days to promote the dance and get enough people there to pay the bills (the band was still expensive plus a sound engineer).

A bunch of dancers drove up from Boston and from other cities. We ended up with a packed house. Forrest Fraiser (Big Daddy) was there and he came over to me and offered to DJ during the band breaks. I gratefully accepted (thank you again Forrest). Just as he started DJing, Forrest asked me if I wanted him to play anything special. I handed him my copy of "The Complete Sessions" with Armstrong & Ellington and asked him to play "In A Mellow Tone".

A moment later the piano player from Indigo Swing arrived next to us and asked what that song was. We told him and he said something complimentary about the song and then said, "I really want to play like that."

That scene out of one of our greatest nights in our local history has stuck with me vividly for five years. And that version of "In A Mellow Tone" has remained my favorite.

It features a trumpet rather than a sax as so many other recordings do, but it is the piano in that recording that has always caught my attention.

John

I am partial to Duke Ellington's version from "Blues in Orbit," although some of the others listed here are great too.

Ellington's version on that album is a faster tempo than most I have heard. It's a nice version.

At the risk of straying a little on this topic, one of my all time favorite tunes is "Three J`s Blues", cut #1 on Ellington's "Blues in Orbit". The sax intro gets everybody's attention and then the song swings at a really nice tempo - just a downright fun tune to dance to.

Blues in Orbit is such a phenomenal album - it might be entirely psychological cuz I know it was recorded in the middle of the night, but it's just such perfect late night music..

For me, it comes back to the Basie family of recordings. My favorite is a live version from a Paris concert: allmusic lists the CD as "Live From Paris," but the actual CD states "En Concert En Europe" on the cover. As Thomas Gunther told me in Chicago when I played it a few years ago, the version has everything that is great about Big Band music: great musicianship, rise and fall, solo and ensemble; everything. Really a phenomenal recording.

Mike wrote:My current favorite is the Ben Webster version that's on Impulsively Ellington... Not sure if it's the same one you're referring to but it really kicks!

I picked up Ben Webster's See You At The Fair and there was a good version on it. I imagine it might be the same version that Mike and Rif refer to.

The versions on the below CDs are both listed as 4:26, so I imagine they are likely to be the same version.

The CD Mike referred to:
Impulsively Ellington!: A Tribute to Duke Ellington

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll



The Ben Webster CD

See You at the Fair
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll

jeez, that Blues in Orbit Ellington CD you guys were talking about is out-of-print and listed for $149 on amazon.com. a little more than what I'm willing to pay...