|
|
 |
 |
|
| Rating affects your music played in LAUNCHcast and Music Videos. |
| Your Artist Rating: |
|
| Why Rate? |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Francis A. & Edward K.
7/13/2005, AMG
The much-anticipated collaboration between Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington, Francis A. & Edward K. didn't quite match its high expectations. At the time of recording, the...
more >
Love Songs
7/13/2005, AMG
At some point in their lifetime, everyone should treat themselves to a listen of Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll." If there is ever to be a true understanding of great jazz,...
more >
Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits
7/13/2005, AMG
Columbia's Greatest Hits features many of Duke Ellington's best-known songs and biggest hits, including "Satin Doll," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Take the 'A' Train,"...
more >
Blues And Ballads
7/13/2005, AMG
Blues and Ballads spotlights Duke Ellington from 1956 through 1968, playing in those specific musical contexts. The 20 tracks on this compilation find Ellington fronting...
more >
Afro Bossa/Concert In The Virgin Islands
7/13/2005, AMG
Although in his mid-60s, Duke Ellington proves on this program of mostly new music that he never declined nor lost his creativity. Four of the pieces comprise "The Virgin...
more >
Duke Ellington Meets Count Basie
7/13/2005, AMG
At first glance this collaboration should not have worked. The Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras had already been competitors for 25 years but the leaders' mutual...
more >
Duke Ellington Meets Count Basie
7/13/2005, AMG
The 1999 remastering (Columbia-Legacy 65571) supercedes all previous editions, CD or vinyl, of the 1961 album First Time! The Count Meets the Duke, and not just because of...
more >
Only God Can Make A Tree
7/13/2005, AMG
This was the final project of Mercer Ellington who, even this late in his life (within a year of his death), was unable (or unwilling) to escape from the shadow of his...
more >
Music Is My Mistress
7/13/2005, AMG
By the late '80s, Mercer Ellington was leading a part-time Duke Ellington Orchestra (he should have used his own name to avoid confusion with the classic band) and doing his...
more >
Digital Duke
7/13/2005, AMG
Digital Duke is a collection of digitally mixed and mastered compositions written by and usually associated with Duke Ellington. Mercer Ellington, the younger half of the...
more >
Live At Monterey 1960: The Unheard Recordings Pt.2
7/13/2005, AMG
This compilation features the second half of Duke Ellington's set at the 1960 Monterey Jazz Festival, along with a separate set by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet from the...
more >
Three Suites
7/13/2005, AMG
One of Duke Ellington's most delightful adaptations of another composer's material is his reworking of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" into jazz; this version is a classic...
more >
16 Most Requested Songs
7/13/2005, AMG
An entertaining overview of some of Duke Ellington's most popular material, 16 Most Requested Songs has some fine music, but it is too incomplete to even be a thorough...
more >
Beyond Category: The Musical Genius..
7/13/2005, AMG
This 1999 two-CD set should not be confused with an identically titled double-disc set from RCA/BMG that dates from a decade earlier. That set, which came in a somewhat...
more >
Sir Duke
7/13/2005, AMG
Although many critics think of Duke Ellington's 1946 Orchestra as a bit less significant than his band of five years earlier, it still ranked with the very best of the...
more >
Black, Brown And Beige
7/13/2005, AMG
This album, Duke Ellington's revised version of his formerly 50-minute long "Black, Brown and Beige," has always been a bit of a disappointment. Stung by criticism from 15...
more >
Togo Brava Suite
7/13/2005, AMG
This single CD reissues all of the contents of the original United Artists double LP. By the time of these concerts from England, the Duke Ellington Orchestra had suffered...
more >
The 1952 Seattle Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
Essentially the first large-release concert recording by Duke, this one took place in the spring of 1952 in Seattle. It's something more of a showcase for his players than...
more >
Centennial Collection: The Birthday Sessions
7/13/2005, AMG
These five CDs of material, available separately or in a box, were cut at two successive birthday celebrations for Ellington in 1953 and 1954 at McElroy's Ballroom in...
more >
Cool Rock
7/13/2005, AMG
This budget CD release from Laserlight (the listed years are educated guesses) features two versions of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Released for the first time in 1992,...
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 4: Studio Sessions
7/13/2005, AMG
The fourth of ten CDs released in this valuable series, these studio sessions from 1963, in addition to rare revivals of "Harmony in Harlem" and "Blue Rose," are filled with...
more >
New York Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington was so brilliant as a bandleader, arranger and composer that sometimes his piano playing was taken for granted. He gave few solo concerts in his career, which...
more >
1938 Vol. 3
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's very busy year of 1938 resulted in enough music (counting small group dates led by his sidemen) to fill up more than three CDs. This disc has big-band dates...
more >
En Concert Avec Europe 1
7/13/2005, AMG
While many live releases featuring Duke Ellington are frustrating because of the often erratic nature of producers who select only excerpts from a concert (or series of...
more >
At Birdland 1952
7/13/2005, AMG
In 1952, Duke Ellington celebrated the 25th anniversary of his entrance into the big leagues (his gig at the Cotton Club in 1927). This CD features Ellington and his...
more >
Uptown
8/5/2007, AMG
Although some historians have characterized the early '50s as Duke Ellington's "off period" (due to the defection of alto star Johnny Hodges), in reality his 1951-1952...
more >
Blues In Orbit
7/13/2005, AMG
Blues in Orbit lacks the intellectual cachet of the suites and concept pieces that loomed large in Ellington's recordings of this period, but it's an album worth tracking...
more >
70th Birthday Concert
8/5/2007, AMG
This double CD reissues a Solid State double-LP that ranks as one of Duke Ellington's finest recordings of his final decade. The live performance gives listeners a good idea...
more >
In A Mellotone
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD is a straight reissue of an RCA album from the early '60s. Comprised of 16 performances by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during what many consider to be his peak...
more >
The Indispensable Duke...Vol. 5/6 (1940)
7/13/2005, AMG
While listeners really should just dive right in and get the three-disc Blanton-Webster Band package from Bluebird, this single disc does a fine job of chronicling...
more >
1940 Vol. 2
7/13/2005, AMG
The Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1940 may not have been as popular with the general public as that of Glenn Miller, but they were one of the great big bands of all time. The...
more >
Live At The Whitney
7/13/2005, AMG
Late in his career, Duke Ellington was persuaded on three occasions to take a brief hiatus from his big band and give trio recitals that focused on his piano playing. The...
more >
The Cornell University Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
Due to the second recording ban, Duke Ellington made no studio recordings in 1948, which makes the concert tapes from that year especially interesting. The Cornell...
more >
A Drum Is A Woman
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's fanciful tale of Carribee Joe and his drum, which evolved into a woman known as Madam Zajj (and a very abstract telling of the evolution of jazz) became a...
more >
This Is Jazz #7
7/13/2005, AMG
As part of Columbia's This Is Jazz series, this volume collects Ellington sides waxed for the label between 1927 and 1959. Even on later remakes of classics like "Mood...
more >
Greatest Hits
7/13/2005, AMG
Unlike some of the entries in RCA Victor's beginners' introduction to jazz CD series, this collection does contain quite a few "hits." Other than 1928's "I Can't Give You...
more >
The Popular Duke Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD reissue features Duke Ellington and His Orchestra running through 11 of the leader's hits and a lesser-known blues tune, "The Twitch." The 1966 version of his big...
more >
Jazz Profile
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington never recorded for Blue Note, but his sessions for Capitol, United Artists and Solid State are all owned (along with Blue Note) by EMI, making this single-CD...
more >
Priceless Jazz Collection
7/13/2005, AMG
This above-average mid-priced compilation was assembled from some of the highlights of three classic early-'60s Ellington releases: Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins,...
more >
Berlin '65/Paris '67
7/13/2005, AMG
By the mid-1960s, the Duke Ellington Orchestra were hardened world travelers and a well-oiled machine that could handle time zones and European audiences with nary an off...
more >
Jazz Party
7/13/2005, AMG
A most unusual Duke Ellington record, two selections feature nine symphonic percussionists on tympani, vibes, marimbas and xylophones. Dizzy Gillespie makes a historic...
more >
This Is Jazz 36 Duke Ellington Plays Standards
7/13/2005, AMG
This 13-song, mid-priced compilation covers material dating between "I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me," cut on March 8, 1935, and "Mood Indigo" from March 31,...
more >
Soul Call
7/13/2005, AMG
The centerpiece of this live album is Ellington's "La Plus Belle Africaine," tone of his better late-period works. Otherwise an overly fast "Jam with Sam," two short Paul...
more >
Jazz Group 1964
7/13/2005, AMG
This live date by Duke Ellington is unusual as it consists of a "Giants" octet taken from the full band. The group consists of Ellington, Rolf Ericson, Johnny Hodges, Paul...
more >
Second Sacred Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
"I think of myself as a messenger boy," wrote Duke Ellington, "one who tries to bring messages to people, not people who have never heard of God, but those who were raised...
more >
1938, Vol. 2
7/13/2005, AMG
The music on this CD was all recorded within a four-month period, featuring performances by Duke Ellington's Orchestra and small groups led by trumpeter Cootie Williams and...
more >
VDisc A Musical Contribution By America's Best For Our Armed Forces Overseas
7/13/2005, AMG
This triple-CD set fills in some important holes around Duke Ellington's '40s RCA-Victor output. The World War II-era V-Disc program helped raise morale among soldiers, and...
more >
1939-1940
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD has Duke Ellington's final recordings for the Columbia and Vocalion labels before switching over to Victor and beginning what many consider to be his greatest period...
more >
Happy-Go-Lucky Local
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington never really had a "Musicraft period" -- his active relationship with the label lasted barely two months. And based on the length of the material featured,...
more >
Recollections Of The Big Band Era
7/13/2005, AMG
This budget-priced, 23-track CD consists of the recordings of big-band standards that Ellington originally did for Reprise in the early 1960s. One suspects there was a quid...
more >
The Collection: '46-47 Recordings
7/13/2005, AMG
This mid-priced triple-CD box (originally five separate LPs) contains 64 tracks recorded by Ellington and his band for radio broadcast between March 28, 1946 and June 10,...
more >
1935-1936
7/13/2005, AMG
All of the Duke Ellington Orchestra's recordings from 1935 plus their first two sessions from 1936 are on this enjoyable CD. The rise of the swing era may have resulted in...
more >
1929-1930
7/13/2005, AMG
Trying to make sense of Duke Ellington's massive catalog is one of the more daunting tasks facing jazz lovers. His early output alone includes scores of songs, often with...
more >
1930 Vol. 2
7/13/2005, AMG
Although susceptible to some of the commercial pressures that other bands were feeling in 1930, which accounts for the inclusion of a few pop numbers and some added...
more >
The Complete RCA Victor Mid-Forties Recordings (1944-1948)
7/13/2005, AMG
Once Duke Ellington's complete RCA/Victor recordings were released on the 24-disc box set in 1999, it meant that it was only a matter of time before the cream of that crop...
more >
The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973)
7/13/2005, AMG
This 24-CD box, which dwarfs even most Bear Family sets in scope, is essentially everything Ellington cut for RCA-Victor over a 46-year period. There are gaps, especially...
more >
The Ellington Suites
7/13/2005, AMG
It took until 1976 before these three extended works ("The Queen's Suite," "The Goutelas Suite" and "The Uwis Suite") were released and their obscurity is somewhat deserved....
more >
More Greatest Hits
7/13/2005, AMG
More Duke Ellington Greatest Hits is designed for the casual fan, who only wants Ellington's best-known songs, such as "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," "My Old Flame,"...
more >
1941
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's last recordings before Pearl Harbor are on this CD. The band's personnel remained remarkably consistent, except that Jimmy Blanton was forced into...
more >
Golden Hits
7/13/2005, AMG
Intercontinental's Golden Hits is a budget-priced collection of re-recordings of such hits as "Caravan," "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo," "Mood Indigo," "Ring Them Bells," "Take...
more >
Live At The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles
7/13/2005, AMG
This 1966 concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles features sets by Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, with the source evidently being a soundboard tape. His star...
more >
Strayhorn Touch
7/13/2005, AMG
The Encore Collection: The Strayhorn Touch is a budget-line collection that contains ten Billy Strayhorn-penned songs associated with Duke Ellington, all taken from the...
more >
Volume 8 Jungle Blues 1929-1930
7/13/2005, AMG
EPM Musique's eighth volume of Ellington's late-'20s and early-'30s sides errs much too heavily on the novelty end of things. Blessed with a fantastic band and burgeoning...
more >
Back To Back
7/13/2005, AMG
These distinctive small-group sessions, featuring Duke Ellington as pianist in a blues context, are part of a group of recordings issued under the confusing titles Back to...
more >
The Private Collection Volume 5: The Suites New York 1968 & 1970
7/13/2005, AMG
One of the most interesting of the ten volumes released in The Private Collection series, this CD contains "The Degas Suite" (music for a soundtrack of an art film that was...
more >
Jump For Joy: Volume 2
7/13/2005, AMG
Releases such as this Jazz Hour CD compilation can drive a Duke Ellington collector nuts. Generic liner notes fail to identify the source of these recordings, though Tom...
more >
The Duke In Boston
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD has two formerly rare broadcasts featuring the Duke Ellington Orchestra near the peak of its powers. The earlier session is highlighted by "Jazz Potpourri," "Rose of...
more >
The Great Chicago Concerts
7/13/2005, AMG
The 1946 Duke Ellington Orchestra is heard in superior form throughout this highly recommended set. Split between a pair of separate concerts that took place in Chicago,...
more >
Piano Reflections
7/13/2005, AMG
At the time of its release this was a true rarity, a full album of Duke Ellington featured with a trio sans his orchestra. Although his talents at the piano sometimes have...
more >
The Pianist
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington had so many talents (composer, arranger, bandleader, personality) that his skills as a pianist could easily be overlooked. Fortunately he did record a fair...
more >
1932-1933
7/13/2005, AMG
Not the best Classics disc of Ellington's ‘20s and ‘30s work (look to the label's mid-to-late ‘30s titles), this 23-track roundup of the bandleader's 1932-1933 output still...
more >
Duke Ellington...1939-40/Cruisin' With Cab
7/13/2005, AMG
This package finds the orchestra poised for greatness just prior to switching to RCA. Bassist Jimmy Blanton was now in the band, tenor saxophonist Ben Webster was aboard by...
more >
The Jeep Is Jumpin'
7/13/2005, AMG
TKO Magnum does its best to make The Jeep Is Jumpin' to appear as an official release, going so far as to issue a "Consumer Guidance" bar on the back cover. For the record,...
more >
1933-1935
7/13/2005, AMG
Decades after these recordings were made, an LP appeared as part of RCA Victor's superb Vintage series bearing the title Daybreak Express. Focusing on much of his best work...
more >
1929
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's 1929 band found Cootie Williams gradually developing into a major trumpet soloist alongside the contrasting styles of Arthur Whetsol and Freddy Jenkins....
more >
1928
7/13/2005, AMG
During 1928, the main stars of Duke Ellington's orchestra (in addition to the leader/pianist/composer/arranger) were trumpeter Bubber Miley, trombonist Joe Tricky Sam...
more >
1927-1928
7/13/2005, AMG
As usual with the Classics series, the music on this CD is released complete and in chronological order, covering the music originally released by several record labels but...
more >
1924-1927
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD contains the first 23 recordings released under Duke Ellington's name. The initial ten selections, dating from November 1924 to June 1926, are quite intriguing...
more >
At Basin Street East 1964
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington is featured in a complete performance at Basin Street East in New York City on this CD, as it was originally broadcast on WNEW, complete with his verbal...
more >
The Best Of Early Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
Drawn from Duke Ellington's earliest recordings for Brunswick and Vocalion labels, The Best of Early Ellington is an excellent single-disc sampler that offers some of his...
more >
1938-1939
7/13/2005, AMG
The 1938-1939 Duke Ellington Orchestra, even before bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster became members, was quite a strong band, having at least eight...
more >
The Birth Of A Band Vol. 1: 1924-1926
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD contains virtually all of Duke Ellington's recordings before he had developed his own musical identity. Starting off with a piano roll from 1924 and including...
more >
1947
7/13/2005, AMG
The Ellington band was in transition when these sides were cut in 1947. The big-band scene was slowly winding down after World War II, but the group had just signed with...
more >
The Best Of The Complete RCA...
7/13/2005, AMG
Given that the 24-disc set The Complete RCA/Victor Recordings was so large it was only for specialized tastes, it was inevitable that the set would be released in excerpts....
more >
Highlights From The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition, 1927-1973
7/13/2005, AMG
It's hardly surprising that RCA's 24-disc set The Complete Duke Ellington on RCA was only affordable to the scholars and the fanatical, so the appearance of a compilation of...
more >
Classic Jazz Performances
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD is the second of two volumes recorded during a 1958 Paris concert. None of the music will be unfamiliar to Ellington fans. "El Gato," a feature for the four...
more >
The Duke At His Best
7/13/2005, AMG
A disc with a title like this always seems to be open to scrutiny and usually comes up far short of what the title boasts. But this one takes all its hits ("Take the 'A'...
more >
Side By Side
7/13/2005, AMG
Topping off a wealth of full-band recordings, the various stars of Ellington's great outfit recorded many combo sides under their own names. And while not on the same...
more >
Such Sweet Thunder
7/13/2005, AMG
The 1999 reissue of this album marks a total reconstruction and rethinking of the original LP, and such a complete break from the original album that its story could fill a...
more >
Latin American Suite
7/13/2005, AMG
Written after his orchestra's successful debut in South America, Duke Ellington's seven-part suite celebrates the atmosphere and rhythms of the many south-of-the-border...
more >
The Complete Capitol...
7/13/2005, AMG
This five-CD box set from Mosaic documents Duke Ellington's least-known period, his two years on Capitol. Although thought of by some as his off years because of the absence...
more >
Money Jungle
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington surprised the jazz world in 1962 with his historic trio session featuring Charles Mingus and Max Roach. Not in a mood to simply rework older compositions, the...
more >
Complete Session
8/4/2007, AMG
When BMG issued the Never No Lament sides, a triple-CD package finally remastered with all the right stuff, it would have seemed that the jazz punters finally had a...
more >
Blue Note Chicago
7/13/2005, AMG
A typically excellent club appearance by Duke Ellington's orchestra near the end of 1958, it exists on CD because CBS happened to broadcast this date. Nearly all of the...
more >
Afro Bossa
7/13/2005, AMG
Inspired by their world travels, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed 11 new compositions (along with performing the standard "Pyramid") that paid tribute to the...
more >
All Star Road Band
7/13/2005, AMG
All Star Road Band, Vol. 1 captures Ellington and his stars -- who include trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, trombonists Lawrence Brown and Buster Cooper,...
more >
All Star Road Band, Vol 2
7/13/2005, AMG
All Star Road Band, Vol. 2 delivers more of the lively performance that Ellington and his stars -- who include trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, trombonists...
more >
The Great Duke Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
One of the more obscure Duke Ellington LPs, this session features the orchestra playing ten of Ellington's more popular numbers (all at least 20 years old at the time) and...
more >
Anatomy Of A Murder
7/13/2005, AMG
By the time of Ellington's engagement to write and record the music for Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder, he was an elder statesman of jazz. He'd performed in, and...
more >
Yale Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
The great Duke Ellington Orchestra was still intact and in its late prime at the time of this performance from 1968. With the death of Billy Strayhorn the year before,...
more >
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
7/13/2005, AMG
Collaborative albums such as this one always have been something of a stunt on the part of the record label, with the artists themselves usually stuck with too little time...
more >
This One's For Blanton
7/13/2005, AMG
For this set of duets, pianist Duke Ellington is teamed up with bassist Ray Brown in performances a bit reminiscent of Duke's work with Jimmy Blanton three decades before....
more >
Up In Duke's Workshop
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD reissue is primarily for Duke Ellington completists and scholars. Some of the performances are runthroughs of works that would soon be discarded or rewritten while...
more >
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
7/13/2005, AMG
For this classic encounter, Duke Ellington "sat in" with the John Coltrane Quartet for a set dominated by Ellington's songs; some performances have his usual sidemen...
more >
The Duke At Tanglewood
7/13/2005, AMG
In 1965 Duke Ellington appeared at a concert with Arthur Fielder's Boston Pops Orchestra and a recording resulted. Ellington's piano is fine throughout this LP but...
more >
Things Ain't What They Used To Be
7/13/2005, AMG
This is the kind of compilation that drives serious fans of Duke Ellington crazy. The only information provided by the budget label Laserlight about the ten tracks present...
more >
The Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943
7/13/2005, AMG
This two-CD set captures one of the milestones in Duke Ellington's long and extremely productive career, highlighted by his monumental suite "Black, Brown and Beige" in the...
more >
The Symphonic Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
In 1963 Duke Ellington realized a longtime goal, to record some of his extended works using both a symphony orchestra and his regular big band. Included on this fine CD are...
more >
The Great London Concerts
7/13/2005, AMG
This previously issued material (released on a single CD by Music Masters) features the Duke Ellington Orchestra during a very busy era. The veteran musicians were getting...
more >
The Duke's Men Vol. 2: 1938-1939
7/13/2005, AMG
This second two-disc set, like the first, includes all of the master takes (no alternates) from the small-group sessions led by Duke Ellington's sidemen. During the year...
more >
The Feeling Of Jazz
7/13/2005, AMG
This is a nice all-around set by the 1962 Duke Ellington Orchestra. Whether it be the lightweight but fun "Taffy Twist," "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'" (the theme from Anatomy of a...
more >
Sophisticated Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
This is a wonderful two-record set of material ranging from the 20s to the 60s. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music...
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 1: Studio...
7/13/2005, AMG
The first of ten CDs of previously unreleased material recorded privately by Ellington between engagements, all of which was eventually reissued first on LMR and then...
more >
Stereo Reflections In Ellington
8/5/2007, AMG
The historic nature of this collection centers on the phenomenal real stereo sound of two extended medleys by Duke Ellington, recorded by two widely spaced discs transcribed...
more >
The 1953 Pasadena Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
A CD reissue of a March 30, 1953, concert at Pasadena's Civic Auditorium (presented by Crescendo Records founder Gene Norman), this disc captures the pioneering bandleader...
more >
The Intimacy Of The Blues
7/13/2005, AMG
Lots of rare music was uncovered when these recordings were first released. Duke Ellington did a remarkable number of private recordings with small groups taken from his...
more >
The Best Of Duke Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
Misleading title but a very good anthology covering 40s-70s tracks. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music...
more >
The Blanton-Webster Band
1/1/1986, Yahoo! Music, Jeff Morgan
Three-record set documenting the essential years between 1940 and 1942, featuring the late, great Ivy Anderson on vocals. All the classics are here, from "Take The 'A'...
more >
The Blanton-Webster Band
7/13/2005, AMG
This attractive three-CD set contains the master takes of all 66 selections recorded by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during what many historians consider its peak period. Left...
more >
The Great Ellington Units
7/13/2005, AMG
Beginning in the '30s, Duke Ellington started recording with small groups taken out of his orchestra under the leadership of his sidemen. These highly enjoyable recordings...
more >
The Great Paris Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
This set came about, in part, as a result of Ellington's signing to Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in November 1962, with the ending of his exclusive contract to Columbia....
more >
The Brunswick Era, Vol 1 - 1926-1929
1/16/1990, Yahoo! Music, Jeff Morgan
Two volumes, covering Ellington's Cotton Club-era band between 1926 and 1939. 32 numbers that are a must listen on those hot 'n' humid nights when the jungle drums in...
more >
The Brunswick Era, Vol 1 - 1926-1929
7/13/2005, AMG
The first of two CDs featuring highpoints from the Ellington recordings owned by MCA, this set features music from the Bubber Miley era including "Immigration Blues" (from...
more >
The Brunswick Era, Vol 2: The Jungle Band
8/28/1990, Yahoo! Music, Jeff Morgan
Two volumes, covering Ellington's Cotton Club-era band between 1926 and 1939. 32 numbers that are a must listen on those hot 'n' humid nights when the jungle drums in...
more >
The Brunswick Era, Vol 2: The Jungle Band
7/13/2005, AMG
The second of two CDs featuring highlights from MCA's collection of early Duke Ellington (but not as complete as the three CD Early Ellington set put out by Decca), this...
more >
The Okeh Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
Although generally not as celebrated as his Victor recordings of the same period, Duke Ellington's performances for OKeh (late acquired by Columbia) are among the best of...
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 2: Dance...
7/13/2005, AMG
The second of ten CDs of previously unissued recordings of Duke Ellington, this set differs from the others by being from a single live session, a dance concert from 1958....
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 3: Studio...
7/13/2005, AMG
This is the third of ten volumes of previously unknown Duke Ellington sessions made available in this valuable CD series. One of the strongest in The Private Collection,...
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 6: Dance Dates - Calif
7/13/2005, AMG
The sixth of ten CDs in this series of previously unknown private recordings is actually related to Vol. 2. Some of these performances are from the same concert at Travis...
more >
The Private Collection, Vol. 7: Studio Sessions 1957 & 1962
7/13/2005, AMG
One of ten CDs of previously unreleased (and even unknown) studio and concert performances by Duke Ellington's orchestra, these sets allow one to hear Duke experimenting...
more >
The Private Collection Vol. 8: Studio Sessions 195
7/13/2005, AMG
The eighth of ten CDs in this valuable series of previously unknown Duke Ellington recordings is mostly taken from the 1965-67 period (with one selection from 1957) and...
more >
The Private Collection, Volume Ten: Studio Session
7/13/2005, AMG
The last entry in a ten-volume set of mostly unreleased studio and live recordings from Duke Ellington's personal collection, Private Collection, Vol. 10 primarily consists...
more >
The Intimate Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington was videotaped on a number of occasions during his career, but this pair of studio performances recorded for broadcast by Danish television are especially...
more >
The Duke's Men: Small Groups Vol. 1
7/13/2005, AMG
In the '30s, Ellington started recording prolifically with small groups taken from his big band. It gave him an opportunity to both debut new works and to let his sidemen...
more >
The Carnegie Hall Concerts, December 1944
7/13/2005, AMG
The Ellington orchestra was undergoing some personnel (and personality) changes during this era, none of it unexciting. This Carnegie Hall concert (available on two CDs)...
more >
The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD reissue brings back one of Duke Ellington's most intriguing works from his later years. "Acht O'Clock Rock" actually shows the influence of rock while some of the...
more >
And His Mother Called Him Bill
7/13/2005, AMG
When Billy Strayhorn died of cancer in 1967, Duke Ellington was devastated. His closest friend and arranger had left his life full of music and memories. As a tribute,...
more >
1928-1929
7/13/2005, AMG
The main change for the Duke Ellington Orchestra during this period was that the increasingly unreliable Bubber Miley (an alcoholic) was fired by Ellington in January 1929...
more >
Back Room Romp
7/13/2005, AMG
Fine late-30s small-band cuts, many of them hard to find. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music...
more >
Black, Brown & Beige: 1944-46 Band Recordings
1/1/1988, Yahoo! Music, Jeff Morgan
This companion piece picks up where The Blanton-Webster Band left off. Another three-record set, this one covers the years from 1944 to 1946. If the titles "Mood...
more >
Best Of Duke Ellington
7/13/2005, AMG
Best of Duke Ellington is a ten-track budget-priced collection that features some of his biggest pop hits, including "Jump for Joy," "New Mood Indigo, " "Mack the Knife" and...
more >
Braggin' In Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
7/13/2005, AMG
Although not as immortal as the Blanton-Webster sides of 1940, Braggin' in Brass contains enough Ellington gems to make it more than just a secondary collection. It...
more >
Brunswick-Vocalion Rarities
7/13/2005, AMG
This LP has odds and ends taken from a four-year period during which Ellington emerged as the major bandleader in jazz and popular music. Six of the ten performances on this...
more >
Carnegie Hall, November 13, 1948
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's 1948 Carnegie Hall concert is heard in almost complete form, minus introductions of bandmembers, "The Star Spangled Banner," and the first few bars of the...
more >
Compact Jazz - And Friends
7/13/2005, AMG
Budget sampler featuring Ellington performances with Ben Webster, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hodges, and Al Hibbler, among others, taken from various periods. A good starter...
more >
Greatest Hits
7/13/2005, AMG
Although Duke Ellington did score a few chart hits on labels controlled by CBS, they are not contained on this Greatest Hits album released on the company's budget line....
more >
Duke Ellington Presents
7/18/2005, AMG
This unusual set only has four Duke Ellington compositions among the 11 songs. He features a different soloist on most of the songs (which include seven standards not...
more >
Duke Ellington From The Blue Note
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD compiles two separate Duke Ellington broadcasts from 1952 at the Blue Note in Chicago. Many critics have referred to this point in the bandleader's career as a...
more >
Duke Ellington (Bella Musica)
8/5/2007, AMG
This CD reissue from 1997 features Duke Ellington and His Orchestra running through 11 of the leader's hits and a lesser-known blues tune, "The Twitch." The 1966 version of...
more >
Duke Ellington's My People
7/13/2005, AMG
In 1963 Duke Ellington wrote the music for a short-lived show titled My People, which was a sort of combination of his early-'40s Jump for Joy play along with some of the...
more >
Happy Birthday, Duke!: Vol. 1
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington recorded hundreds of hours that were never issued anywhere, which went into his archives. There have been numerous quality posthumous recordings released, and...
more >
Early Ellington (1927-1934)
7/13/2005, AMG
Thus far RCA, in its Bluebird series, has released three CDs of early Duke Ellington. Although not comparable in quantity to its earlier "complete" series on French RCA LPs,...
more >
Ellington At Newport 1956 (Complete)
8/5/2007, AMG
One of the greatest live jazz festival recordings ever has gotten better, and more interesting as well, with this 1999 reissue, a result of the kind of effort that most...
more >
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra Featuring Paul Gonsalves
7/13/2005, AMG
Tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves will be remembered by many for his riotous 27 choruses on the Newport recording of "Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue." As with other...
more >
Harlem
7/13/2005, AMG
Taken from a concert in Stockholm, Sweden, this well-recorded CD mostly features trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves and altoist...
more >
Happy Reunion
7/13/2005, AMG
This LP consists of two small-group sessions led by Duke Ellington. From 1957 four numbers feature a septet with trumpeter Clark Terry and altoist Johnny Hodges while the...
more >
Hot Summer Dance
7/13/2005, AMG
There have been so many releases of live concert performances by Duke Ellington's orchestra that it is easy to become blase about them. It is true that one does not really...
more >
In The Uncommon Market
7/13/2005, AMG
"In the Uncommon Market," of course, refers to Europe, where Norman Granz caught the Ellington band numerous times with his tape machines in the 1960s. But it could also...
more >
Ellington Indigos
7/13/2005, AMG
An easy listening set of ballads (only three of the ten songs were associated with Ellington), this is a relaxing if unexciting program. On this reissue, two "new"...
more >
Jazz Cocktail
7/13/2005, AMG
Solidly ensconced at one of the most popular night spots in New York, the Cotton Club, when the earliest track on the album was laid down, Duke Ellington's distinctive sound...
more >
Jazz Collector Edition
7/13/2005, AMG
This budget CD reissues 11 of the 13 selections recorded by Duke Ellington's orchestra in late 1946 (leaving out the classic "Tulip or Turnip" and "Overture to a Jam...
more >
Jungle Nights In Harlem
7/13/2005, AMG
This second of three CDs of early Ellington released by Bluebird has the loose theme of his Cotton Club days as an excuse to release a variety of recordings from a five-year...
more >
Jubilee Stomp
7/13/2005, AMG
The third of three CDs of early Ellington put out by Bluebird, this set has mostly lesser-known recordings including a few pop tunes and mood pieces. Collectors will want to...
more >
Solos, Duets & Trios
5/25/1990, Yahoo! Music, Jeff Morgan
Wherein the Duke doesn't just tickle the ivories--on tracks like the 1932 speed-demon opus "Lots O' Fingers," he pounds them into bludgeoned submission. Tack on some...
more >
Solos, Duets & Trios
7/13/2005, AMG
This CD puts the focus on Duke Ellington the piano player, featuring the genius in several different settings. He is heard playing two duets with Billy Strayhorn, taking...
more >
Live At The Newport Jazz Festival '59
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's concert at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival lacked the excitement and adventure of his appearances in 1956 and 1958. Ellington and his orchestra played their...
more >
Live At The 1957 Stratford Festival
7/13/2005, AMG
Now that Duke Ellington had regained his former commercial success with his performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, he was free for the remainder of his career to...
more >
Live At The Blue Note (Bandstand)
7/13/2005, AMG
This two-CD set gives one a good example of how Duke Ellington's Orchestra sounded in 1959. Greatly expanded from the original single LP, the release essentially brings back...
more >
Live At The Rainbow Grill
7/13/2005, AMG
This concert date (released for the first time on this 1993 CD) features Duke Ellington with an octet taken from his big band. Trumpeter Cat Anderson (the most surprising...
more >
Masters Of Jazz Vol. 6
7/13/2005, AMG
This album largely duplicates Duke Ellington & His Orchestra/Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra (Storyville), featuring six of the seven selections performed by the Duke...
more >
New Orleans Suite
7/13/2005, AMG
This late-period Duke Ellington album is perhaps most notable for including altoist Johnny Hodges' final recordings. In fact Hodges was supposed to record his first soprano...
more >
New Mood Indigo
7/13/2005, AMG
A very interesting collection of Duke Ellington studio material from 1962-66, it was first issued in 1985. The title cut finds Ellington giving a rare double-time treatment...
more >
Orchestral Works
7/13/2005, AMG
Duke Ellington's collaboration with Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnatti Symphony Orchestra gives one an opportunity to hear Ellington's "The Golden Broom & the Green Apple" and...
more >
Rockin' In Rhythm
7/13/2005, AMG
Good '20s and '30s tracks with some standout contributions from early Ellingtonians like Bubber Miley, Cootie Williams, Barney Bigard, and Harry Carney. More material from...
more >
The 1954 Los Angeles Concert
7/13/2005, AMG
This album has an excellent performance by the Duke Ellington Orchestra at a time when its commercial fortunes were near the bottom. The struggles however are not reflected...
more >
Reminiscing In Tempo
7/13/2005, AMG
Just the fact that Ellington's extended masterpiece "Reminiscing in Tempo" is included here in its original and continuous form is reason enough to pick up this compilation....
more >
Sophisticated Lady
7/13/2005, AMG
This RCA CD reissue contains 19 Duke Ellington recordings from 1940-42 and 1945-46 and serves as a good introduction to Ellington's music of that era although veteran...
more >
S.R.O. (Live In Europe 1961)
7/13/2005, AMG
With literally thousands of Duke Ellington CDs flooding the marketplace at any moment, it pays to be careful before purchasing budget CDs with vague packaging. This...
more >
Early Ellington: Complete Brunswick..
7/13/2005, AMG
This three-CD set, which has all of Duke Ellington's recordings for the Brunswick and Vocalion labels, dwarfs all of the earlier reissues that Decca and MCA have put out of...
more >
Best Of Duke Ellington (Signature)
7/13/2005, AMG
The title's a bit misleading, for although nothing the Duke ever produced was substandard, this is a long way from being definitive or even his very best. A ten-song budget...
more >
1942-1944
7/13/2005, AMG
The first 13 selections on this CD complete the reissue of the studio recordings of the classic 1939-1942 Duke Ellington & His Orchestra. Among the more notable selections...
more >
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: 1944-1945
7/13/2005, AMG
Part of a nine-LP series of Duke Ellington's transcriptions for the World Broadcasting System, Volume Four has particularly enjoyable versions of "It Don't Mean a Thing,"...
more >
Satin Doll (Jazz Time)
7/13/2005, AMG
Many Duke Ellington concerts have appeared as new releases following his death in 1974, this CD documents a entire live set better than many others have because it preserves...
more >
The Duke
7/13/2005, AMG
Unlike some labels, who chose to celebrate Duke Ellington's centennial with lavish sets of his complete recordings for a label, Columbia/Legacy decided to keep things...
more >
Ellington '55
7/13/2005, AMG
The general outlook on Ellington's two-year stay at Capitol Records is that they were a series of missed opportunities, the label being unwilling to let him do much more...
more >
Centenary Celebration 1999: Vol. 1
7/13/2005, AMG
The occasion of Duke Ellington's 100th birthday allowed almost every record label to release their own commemorative release, invariably containing some play on "centennial"...
more >
Centenary Celebration 1999: Vol. 2
7/13/2005, AMG
The occasion of Duke Ellington's 100th birthday allowed almost every record label to release their own commemorative release, invariably containing some play on "centennial"...
more >
Duke's Joint
7/13/2005, AMG
No sooner does RCA give us the Ellington Centennial box, containing all of the known Ellington recordings for RCA/Victor, then its new Buddha imprint raises the ante with...
more >
The Complete Standard Transcriptions
7/13/2005, AMG
These 29 transcription recordings, done for radio broadcast during three sessions in 1941, would normally not be of enormous interest -- the Ellington band from this period...
more >
The British Conexion 1933-1940
7/13/2005, AMG
Ellington collectors will eagerly seek out this CD, a collection of music recorded in E | | | |
