Ellington Collection For Solo Guitar - Book/CD

By Duke Ellington

I find Howard Morgen's solo arrangements kind of fusty and thin (which is not to say I don't have several of his books). There were only one or two in this folio that I would care to get under my fingers. A much better collection can be had...

in his Gershwin folio.

Great book for starting out with finger-style jazz guitar playing. It helps that it's great music as well and I find that knowing the songs first helps a lot. There are some huge stretches so it helps to be an experienced player. It's great to learn with...

actual music, rather than clinical ii-V-I progressions or blues patterns. The accompanying CD is ok - the sound and playing could be a little more polished, but I think that's only because I bought his Gershwin book that comes with a CD and that sound fabulous.

I love this book. It has opened up a lot of doors in thinking about how to arrange for the guitar. The author does a nice job of making fingerpicking settings of the most popular of Ellington's tunes. The CD is very helpful and lets you hear how the...

arrangements should sound. My favourite setting is Mr. Morgen's version of Caravan.