Duke Ellington Chronological Classics 1940

[Jonathan T. Brown]

I've bought several Duke Ellington CDs in the "Chronological" series put
out by the French "Classics" label. So far I've had no luck locating
number 805, "Duke Ellington 1940." The disks which immediately precede
and follow 805 seem to be very widely available (they are number 790,
"1939-1940," and nuber 820, "1940 Volume 2"). What I'd like to know is:

1) Is this CD really as scarce as it seems to be, or is it just a fluke
that I've been unable to find it anywhere?

2) Is the material on this CD available on any other CD with comparable
sound quality? (I already have the Bluebird "Blanton-Webster" disks,
which I assume have some of the same material, but I find the sound a bit
better on the "Classics" disks).

I'd be very grateful to anyone who could provide information, and would
especially appreciate a response by e-mail to the address below, as I
sometimes have difficulty sorting through all the posts to this newsgroup.

Thanks,
Todd Brown
jonb...@princeton.edu

[Eric Hines]

There is a selection of Ellington's 1940 releases out on French RCA
(Black and White/ Jazz Tribune) which should be around. The sound
is not the same that I remember from the Bluebird set. Blanton's
bass is clear and the overall sound is very clear. However the
balance seems to me to be off--the sound is too bright and
something seems to have been lost in the middle. But some people
seem to prefer this sort of sound.

--eric