A Lonely Co-Ed
LP TAX m-8010
The title number of the LP that starts and finishes the record in two different takes is of course impressive and tempting to chose, with its pyrotechnics with trumpets and trombones that make you think about Dizzy Gillespie. But I prefer to listen to Duke Ellington’s medium or slow pieces from this period with his unique way of arranging and where you can hear the different personal sounds and styles of the instrumentalist and sometimes the beautiful voice of Ivie Anderson.
Cootie Williams starts the record with taking a fiery growl solo, and after that we hear Lawrence Brown’s trombone.
The sad story of the lonely co-ed was written by Ellington in collaboration with Billy Strayhorn, and the year of recording is 1939.