Live At Montmartre

This DVD pairs two separate concerts at Cafe Montmartre issued separately by Storyville on VHS. The Clark Terry is from an early 1986 performance, with the 65-year-old veteran joined by pianist Duke Jordan, fellow Duke Ellington alum Jimmy Woode on bass, and drummer Svend-Erik Nørregaard. Terry works the crowd with his humorous remarks between numbers and skillfully alternates between flugelhorn and muted trumpet throughout the set, which is predominately music from the vast Ellington songbook. The finale, "Lady Be Good," is announced as a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, though Terry switches from flugelhorn to singing a chorus then to scatting and working in a bit of his "Mumbles" routine. The second portion of the DVD features Duke Jordan leading a trio with bassist Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Aage Tanggaard. While this set is enjoyable, the piano sounds a bit distorted and the performances are not at the level of Terry's set. The medley of "Lush Life" and "Solitude" is rather bland, though Jordan is at his best with a driving interpretation of "Jordu," his best known composition.