Duke Ellington and Coleman Hawkins - Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins

Collaborative albums such as this one have always been something of a stunt on the part of the record label, with the artists themselves usually stuck with too little time to work out something that would easily act as a functional compromise. Many of these albums, then, have faded away with time. Impulse, however, had more than its share of solid collaborations. This one is a lot of fun, whether it's the daffy cut-up of "Limbo Jazz" or the slow New Orleans smoke of "Wanderlust." All present turn in nice performances on this set of Ellington numbers.