Many of the seemingly dozens of "
Ellington Meets..." albums out there are specious, cynical attempts to cash in on
the Duke's good name. This is not one of them. Pianist
Cliff Korman and alto saxophonist
Paulo Moura are savvy interpreters of
Ellington's coolly sophisticated tunes, and the decision to pair them with those of Brazilian composer
Pixinguinha (a contemporary of
Ellington's who, if such a thing is possible, holds an even higher place in the pantheon of Brazilian popular music than
Ellington does in jazz) is absolutely brilliant.
Ellington and
Pixinguinha both brought new levels of melodic sophistication to their respective musics, and
Moura and
Korman treat the pair as equals, bringing a subtle Brazilian flavor to songs like
Ellington's "Moonglow" as they impart a jazzy mellowness to
Pixinguinha ballads like "Lamentos." Excellent stuff, although the three spoken tracks between the nine proper duets add nothing to the album as a whole. ~ Stewart Mason