The Planet D Nonet • Blues To Be There

As a follow-up to their Tribute To Buddy Johnson CD, the Planet D Nonet, a band based in Detroit pays homage to Duke Ellington on Blues To Be There. While most sets of Ellington’s music tend to revive his hits, this is a very different project. Imagine if Duke Ellington in 1960 decided to put together a second group, a 10-piece unit, to perform and record some of his repertoire from the late 1950s. The compositions and arrangements are all by Ellington and/or Billy Strayhorn but the soloists, while inspired by the styles and tones of such sidemen as cornetist Ray Nance, tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, and baritonist Harry Carney, are obviously different players. The Planet D Nonet mostly revives Ellington obscurities on this set with the exception of a version of “Take The ‘A’ Train” that is based on the early 1950s vocal version with Betty Roche (trumpeter James O’Donnell is the singer), Strayhorn’s “U.M.M.G.” and a medley of “VIP’s Boogie” and “Jam With Sam.” Do not look for “Mood Indigo” or “It Don’t Mean A Thing.” Instead, listeners get such songs as colorful version of “Spacemen” (one can easily imagine Clark Terry joining in), the haunting “Blues To Be There,” “Moon Maiden,” the former Paul Gonsalves feature “Blow By Blow” (featuring tenor-saxophonist Christopher Tabaczynski), “Bonga,” and “Moonbow.” In the ensem