This release is more properly identified as a various artists compilation, which includes the pop sounds of
the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Most of the orchestrations and arrangements are pleasant, even if they're not blatantly original. Alto saxophonist
Bobby Watson is superb on "Mood Indigo" and the exotic "Fleurette Africaine." The orchestra does a fine job with the rarely heard suite "Night Creature." Singer
Dee Dee Bridgewater shines frequently; backed by a superb quartet including
Wynton Marsalis, she delivers a delightful cover of "I'm Beginning To See The Light." But it is her hypnotic, chanting introduction, backed by Middle Eastern percussion and Steve Turre's conch shells, that gives this release an occasional freshness usually lacking in similar
Ellington tributes. ~ Ken Dryden