The sixth album: #6 Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport
Jazz is fine, really. Mildly pleasant to listen to, often livened up with vocals, but not something I get excited about. The enthusiastic shouts with which the performers are jeering each other on with in some of the lengthy, good songs feel a bit out of place for me. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, and the length of play makes htis all the more impressive, but it's still jazz, not rock n roll.
It's when it's at its swingiest where the album is most notable. Several areas just feature a slow drone that you associate with slower jazz, and that would work well as background music, but not as an album to actively listen to, nor (I'd imagine) as a great concert piece. It clearly must have been, this having been a great night in music (or at least jazz), but I'm not sure I'm quite as taken by it.