Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies

Dating back more than 20 years (almost to the time when this musical revue of songs by jazz master Duke Ellington premiered on Broadway, where it ran for nearly two years), Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies has no real plot, but is rather a succession of 30 numbers, some (like “It Don't Mean a Thing”) more famous than others but all of them infectious or sultry, especially when done up in such virtuoso style. Many of the performers in this 1981 mounting--such as Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, and Terri Klausner (not "Kalusner," as her name appears on the box) were members of the original Broadway cast (though Gregory Hines is conspicuously absent), joined by newcomers who are in equally fine form (all are profiled in a series of cast biographies offered during the disc's “intermission”), and the presence of Ellington's son Mercer as conductor adds a familial imprimatur to the project. Taped before a live audience, the period camerawork and sound here aren't topnotch (even in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo); still, the combination of great music, wonderful singing, exuberant dancing, and opulent costumes makes this a show that engages both the eye and the ear. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)