When I started at Berklee, I got a job in the jazz department at Tower Records. This was before iPods, before MySpace, and at a time when people were still asking what we had on cassette. The jazz department was up on the third floor, and nobody wandered in there unintentionally. As such, it was somewhat remote, and it gave the employee ample time to discover great music.
As a new Berklee kid, I thought that learning the world of jazz would be rather helpful. And having already cut my teeth on the “classics,” I wanted to delve deeper into more random stuff. After all, nobody cares if you know “Kind of Blue” but being able to refer to Miles at Montreaux from ’71, that makes you awesome.
One of the most random, wonderful discs I came across was “The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse” by Duke Ellington. Released in ’71, this is late period Sir Duke, and it’s just a mash-up and testament to the influence of not only rock music, but world beats (!) on jazz. Often ignored in the massive Ellington catalog, it’s one of his greatest works — if only for hearing him introduce the album in his own voice. I love how these tracks are both classic and consistently overlooked.
It’s worth the time to find a copy, and just soak it up…
P.S. Duke Ellington would’ve been 111 years old today!
