Takin' the Duke Out

Guitarist Dom Minasi continues his millennial comeback with this highly individualized set of Duke Ellington compositions, recorded live in concert at the Knitting Factory NYC. Bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Jackson Krall join Minasi in dismantling the harmonic foundations of six of Ellington's best-known songs, beginning with "Satin Doll" and concluding with "It Don't Mean a Thing." Orthodox Ellington aficionados will be driven up the wall, and perhaps with some justification — once Minasi gets going, he pays no attention whatsoever to the changes, instead issuing rapid-fire swirls of sound that can seem interchangeable and beside the point. However, his dissonant readings of these melodies are often insightful, and the way he straddles conventional and avant-garde jazz guitar traditions is intriguing, especially on his unaccompanied rendition of "Solitude." Some may find this Ellington homage nothing short of disrespectful, but tributes to deceased masters too often sound like the aural equivalent of a term paper. At least Minasi is attempting something different. ~ David R. Adler, Rovi