Joyful is for Don Sebesky aficionados more than fans of Ellington, a distinction that must be made because of the dissimilarity between the two composer-arrangers. Where Ellington emphasized harmonic complexity in his horn voicings, Sebesky condenses brass and reeds for greater thrust and momentum. And where Ellington strove for understated elegance and relatively seamless melodic and rhythmic transitions in his charts, Sebesky is something of a showoff, writing abrupt, dynamic shifts in mood and tempo, heavily accented to maximize the razzmatazz. Thus, such Ellington classics as "Mood Indigo," "Caravan," and "Satin Doll" are boldly interpreted in a more pastiche manner, and Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" sounds closer to Doc Severinsen than Duke Ellington. Sebesky, who won a Grammy for an arrangement on his 1998 Bill Evans tribute CD, I Remember Bill, clearly intends to provide something fresh--his greatest fidelity to Ellington is on the obscure "Warm Valley"--and he's recruited the personnel here to make it happen. More than half of the 10 songs reunite alto saxophonist Phil Woods with former mates Tom Harrell and Jim McNeely, with Ron Carter joining in on three of the cuts. Not surprisingly, one of those--a Sebesky-jolted "Creole Love Call"--is the record's highlight. --Britt Robson
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