Duke Ellington

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Essential Albums

  • Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band (Remastered)
    Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band (Remastered)
    Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band (Remastered)

    Duke Ellington had been an established force in the jazz world for more than a decade when the infusion of three dynamic talents ushered in what is largely considered the band’s most rewarding creative period. First was Billy Strayhorn, a young composer and arranger who finagled a backstage meeting with Ellington in Pittsburgh in late 1938 and impressed him enough to earn an invitation to the organization. Next came bassist Jimmie Blanton, who was 21 when Duke hired him in October of 1939 and who possessed a supple, bouncy style that gave the bass a new prominence. Finally, tenor Ben Webster signed on in January of 1940; his vigorous yet emotive tone had made him one of the most sought-after saxophone voices of the swing era. With a handsome new RCA Victor contract in hand, Ellington took his rejuvenated orchestra into the studio for the first time in March of 1940, and in a little more than two years, the orchestra produced these 75 glorious cuts — pop hits, jazz classics, tone poems, high-energy jams, Latin-influenced pieces, and more. With stalwarts including Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Juan Tizol, and Barney Bigard already on board, the band delivered a host of riches: “Cotton Tail,” “Never No Lament,” “In a Mellotone,” “Warm Valley,” “I Got It Bad,” and “Sentimental Lady” among them. By 1941, Strayhorn's contributions were having a major impact, including the winsome “Chelsea Bridge,” lively “Raincheck,” and stylish “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

  • Money Jungle
    Money Jungle
    Money Jungle

    Duke Ellington created some of the 20th century's most graceful and winsome music, and to be sure, those more elegant aspects of his personality shine through on many of these cuts. But for the most part, this album is difficult, chaotic, and intense listening. For this 1962 juggernaut, Ellington formed a piano trio with two next-generation stars: Charlie Mingus on bass and Max Roach on drums. Ellington was a hero to Mingus, yet here the thorny bassist seems intent on riling, prodding, and irritating the legendary pianist while Roach tries desperately to keep some sort of order. Ellington certainly doesn't shrink from the fight, offering some of his most challenging, discordant, far-reaching piano work. Listen to the dissonant, rumbling title track or the jolting "Wig Wise" or the sharp-toothed blues "Very Special," and it's hard to believe it's the Duke. Yet most impressively, it sounds like only Duke and nobody else. Enchanting solo readings of older cuts like "Solitude" and "Warm Valley" provide brief respites from the battle, and "Flurette Africaine" is lovely beyond words.

  • Blues In Orbit
    Blues In Orbit
    Blues In Orbit

    Perhaps the most sonically alive and dynamic recording in the Ellington catalog, <I>Blues in Orbit</I> revisits a few chestnuts from the old repertoire and adds several appealing new compositions. The two tracks recorded in 1958 are both standouts: the title track features a call and response between the band and Ellington on piano, while “Track 360” is a tense, dramatic audio reproduction of a train collision. The remainder of the tracks were recorded in December of 1959 and feature Ray Nance as the band’s only trumpeter. His growl is used to good effect on “Sweet & Pungent,” a moody, unhurried blues, while the distinctive “Blues in Blueprint” is a quiet and reflective interlude that finds Nance at his most delicate. On the old standby, “C Jam Blues,” Nance picks up the violin for an impressive solo turn. Alto Johnny Hodges takes center stage for tender readings of “Sentimental Lady” and “Brown Penny.”

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About Duke Ellington

One of the most influential bandleaders, composers, and pianists in jazz history, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. He made his mark as a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance in 1924 with the Washingtonians, launching a multi-year stint at the Cotton Club in 1927 under his own name. His silken arrangements and ambitious writing quickly set him apart from other jazz bandleaders, and over the decades he composed specifically for a committed group of distinctive instrumentalists, including alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges and cornetist Rex Stewart. Ellington was joined by fellow composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn in 1939, and together they produced a string of jazz standards like “Take the ‘A’ Train,” bringing a new rigor and sophistication to big band music. Ellington continued to compose, record, and tour until his death in 1974.

BORN
April 29, 1899
GENRE
Jazz

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