Toward the end of his career, Duke Ellington found himself filling up his calendar when home in New York City, with a residence at the famous Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Plaza. This afforded fans to hear a scaled-down version of his Big Band in the form of an Octet, plus occasional added vocalists. On this album we present a rare stereo recording of Duke's Rainbow Room Octet as they were captured playing a private party in New Jersey during the summer of 1968. This is one of only perhaps two issued live recordings of this rare instrumentation, featuring some of Ellington's great sidemen, such as Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown, Paul Gonsalves, Cat Anderson, and Harry Carney. Listen closely as Duke has fun bantering with his band and the fans as well, in this very intimate setting, as he performs for a group of cultured enthusiasts, and you will experience some of the most swingingly warm moments ever captured on an Ellington recording.

Here we have the great Maestro, Duke Ellington in a very rare performance of his later Sacred Music, which he termed his most serious efforts of the latter part of his career. Of the three Sacred collections, or "concerts" he composed, perhaps the most well-known was his Second Sacred Concert, which he recorded as a studio version for RCA Records, but also performed at religious venues throughout the world. Although Ellington was of the Christian faith, he saw to it that his spiritual music was accessible universally, for all faiths and beliefs, and it was played in Churches, Synagogue, Temples, and Mosques alike. In this album, we have an example of the Second Sacred Concert being performed in Paris France, at Eglise Saint Sulpice, while on a European tour in 1969. Featured as expected are his usual lineup of jazz superstars; Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams Cat Anderson, Paul Gonsalves, and more, and on vocals the amazing contra soprano, Alice Babs of Sweden, as well as Toney Watkins and a choir called the Swingle Singers.

The year is 1973 and the great Maestro Duke Ellington led his world famous orchestra on it's final European tour. To collectors and expert listeners alike this performance is a rare document of his final band which includes a few remaining veterans and a healthy sprinkling of young blood who would keep the Ellington flame lit for some time after Duke's passing, as members of the Ellington Orchestra led by his son Mercer. The remarkable thing about this recording is that Ellington, despite being terminally ill, is still playing like a younger man, full of energy and fresh ideas. The material is standard fare, but the music has a certain urgency and abandon that will convince the listener that Duke had much more left to express before leaving the planet. The concert was produced by George Wein as part of the 'Newport to Paris' series, and features special guest pianists Raymond Fol and Claude Bolling, as well as Ellingtonians such as Harry Carney, Russell Procope, Harold Minerve, Johnny Coles, and many more.

The Washingtonians is essentially known as the original name of Duke Ellington's band, before they migrated to New York City in 1923. The group actually evolved from a band that was led by banjoist Elmer Snowden, which included Ellington's Washington D.C. crew of saxophonist Otto Hardwick and trumpeter Arthur Whetsol. Before moving to New York, the band would often be booked in D.C. and in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The way the stories go, Snowden was ripping off the band members and took work with the Broadway Jones Band, and Ellington became the leader. Even when Snowden returned later that year, Duke remained in charge, and the band was forever to be his. The band earned a residence at the Hollywood Club (later the Kentucky Club), from 1923 until 1927. However, once the band moved to the Cotton Club in 1927, the name "Washingtonians" was dropped and seldom used again. On this album, we present the totality of the recordings by Duke Ellington during his "Washingtonian" period.

Duke Ellington - LIVE IN POLAND 1971 - The year is 1971 and the great Maestro Duke Ellington led his world famous orchestra on it's final European tour. To collectors and expert listeners alike this performance is a rare document of his final band which includes a few remaining veterans and a healthy sprinkling of young blood who would keep the Ellington flame lit for some time after Duke's passing, as members of the Ellington Orchestra led by his son Mercer, who is playing trumpet in the band on this recording as well. Johnny Hodges was now deceased. Norris Turney had aptly taken over his lead alto sax chair and added a powerful new twist. Cootie Williams was still pumping out those fat notes. Malcolm "Big Luv" Taylor shines with his own brand of "Things Ain's" showing himself to already become a master of the "plunger style" of Tricky Sam Nanton, while Booty Wood was still in tow. Vocalist Nell Brookshire was more a Soul singer than jazz, and brought Duke a quasi-Aretha Franklin vibe to "Everybody Wants to Know". At long last, we finally get another take of Harold "Geezil" Minerve bringing forth the "rock" blues "Addi", an amazing Ellington piece of exotica, which showcases his sinewy avant-garde-mixed-with-bop lines. Johnny Coles evokes Miles Davis in his prime with "Good", another wild Ellington take on the blues. Stalwart Harry Carney is majestic as always. This rare concert in Warsaw, Poland shows yet another glimpse of the "Rugged Jungle" band at it's most dark and mysterious. Acoustic Bass - Joe Benjamin, Alto Saxophone - Harold Minerve, Norris Turney, Russell Procope, Baritone Saxophone - Harry Carney, Bass Trombone - Chuck Connors, Drums - Rufus Jones, Piano, Lead Guitar - Duke Ellington, Tenor Saxophone - Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves, Trombone - Booty Wood, Jimmy Cheatham, Malcom Taylor, Trumpet - Cootie Williams, Eddie Preston, Johnny Coles, Mercer Ellington, Money Johnson, Vocals - Nell Brookshire

During the mid 1960s, Duke Ellington was constantly recording his own musical ideas and projects with the hope and intent that a label would pick them up, as albums, and then commercially release them. However in some cases the projects were never fully completed in terms of an album's length of work, or were just never accepted by the labels and were otherwise left in Ellington's vault of recorded masters, as well as unmixed sessions. In this release, we explore some such works; parts of an Ellington album that was planned as a feature for trumpeter Ray Nance, a few miscellaneous studio versions of important songs he was playing out on the road, as well as a very obscure small group led by his son Mercer Ellington, featuring a very young Chick Corea on piano. The sessions range from 1962 to 1966, and they contain a whole lot of important music that Ellington fans need to hear.

First, Love You Madly is a profile of Duke Ellington that features interviews and such timeless selections as "Rockin' in Rhythm," "In My Solitude," "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and more. Then, A Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral includes unforgettable renditions of "In the Beginning, God," "The Lord's Prayer," "Come Sunday," and other songs of praise. 116 min. Total. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Region Free

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra recorded multiple albums worth of material for this World Broadcasting Series between 1943 and 1945. The songs on this compilation include the best of two volumes which were originally released by Circle Records in 1985. All of the material was recorded on November 8 and 9 of 1943. The album was remastered and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group in Germany.

Three CD set. First-of-it's-kind anthology of the Elektra and Warner Brothers recordings by the multi- talented award-winning musician, producer, songwriter and vocalist George Duke, spanning his 15 years from 1985-2000. A 45-track, 3CD set of musical gems, drawing from George's three Elektra albums, Thief In The Night, George Duke and Night After Night and his six Warner Brothers albums, Snapshot, The Muir Woods Suite, Illusions, Is Love Enough?, After Hours and Cool. Plus a non-album b-side, 'Guilty (Part 2)' making it's worldwide CD debut. This set includes handpicked cuts that reflect George Duke's multi-faceted mastery in Jazz, Funk, Soul and Pop and includes five US R&B charted singles and confirms his place as a staple artist in the world of Smooth Jazz. This sumptuous collection, created by SoulMusic. Com founder David Nathan with invaluable project support from renowned US music journalist A Scott Galloway, features extensive notes by acclaimed UK writer Charles Waring with 2022 quotes from musicians Paul Jackson Jr, Byron Miller and Everette Harp who all worked with George for many years.

This LP "best of" collection is part of a high-quality reissue series from Sony, focusing on the legends of the 80-year-old Columbia jazz catalog. Featuring superb, digitally-remastered sound and a super low price, this set of Duke Ellington classics contains the tracks "Satin Doll," "Take the 'A' Train," "Solitude," "Mood Indigo," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Perdido" and more.

Directly after World War II, the great Duke Ellington recorded his most ambitious and experimental works. The selections here all hail from that glorious period and feature one of the best line-ups of his famed orchestra including Ray Nance on violin and trumpet, vocalist Kay Davis, who positively shines on "The Beautiful Indians"; Harry Carney's baritone sax is featured on "Golden Feather" and the golden alto sax of Johnny Hodges features on "Magenta Haze". All selections newly remastered.

Here's George himself describing his exceptional new album: "this album can best be described as a 'for lovers only' or an 'evening in the life of..' type of record. It is a keyboard album where I play mostly piano and/or Rhodes, along with a Wurlitzer 140B electric piano on one track. It is the first instrumental album I've recorded in over 20 years." The musical supporting cast includes such players as Christian McBride, Lenny Castro and guitarists Paul Jackson and Ray Fuller.

The Far East Suite is an album by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, recorded in New York City on 19 December to 21 December 1966. The nine compositions on the original album were all composed by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (except for one by Ellington).

By the time Snapshot was released in 1992, George Duke's career had survived myriad changes in the development of pop and funk, but even at age 46 he was spry and inventive enough to keep his finger on the pulse of what was new. Timeless slow jams like "No Rhyme, No Reason," "The Morning After," and "Speak Low" kept Duke relevant, while "History (I Remember)" and "Geneva" confirmed that his jazz-funk chops remained as flawless in 1992 as they'd been in 1976.