Classical Music

Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than half a century. Jazz Violin Session was recorded in 1963 but was not released until 1976 on the Atla

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Blue Note Tone Poet Series release. In 1962 Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach recorded Money Jungle, one of the most celebrated jazz trio albums of all time. Generational and stylistic differences between the three created fearless music. The album features some of Ellington's indelible compositions including "Caravan," "Solitude," and a stunning version of "Le Fleurs Africaines (African Flower)."

Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded in 1963 but not released on the Atlantic label until 1976.

This 13 track CD contains never before released live recordings from Duke Ellington. Recorded at Carnegie Hall in New York City on July 8th, 1972 and Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg, Canada on May 25th, 1973, the CD features Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington, Johnny Coles, Money Johnson, Eddie Preston, Tyree Glenn, Norris Turney, Harry Carney and others.

In this master adaptation, Duke puts his famous jazzy touch on classics by Tchaikovsky (Nutcracker Suite), Grieg (Peer Gynt Suites) and John Steinbeck's engaging novel, Sweet Thursday, with his original composition of Zweet Zurzday. Also includes Toot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance of the Red-Pipes); Sugar-Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy); in the Hall of the Mountain King; Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance); Morning Mood; Anitra's Dance, and much more!

Duke Ellington's "The Feeling of Jazz" from Black Lion Records, remastered for the first time in decades by legendary engineer, Bernie Grundman. Performed by the 1962 Duke Ellington Orchestra featuring: Cat Anderson, Harold Baker, Aaron Bell, Bill Berry, Lawrence Brown, Roy Burrowes, Harry Carney, Chuck Conners, Buster Cooper, Leon Cox, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Ray Nance, Russell Procope, and Sam Woodyard.

The Ellington Suites is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington which collects three suites recorded in 1959, 1971 and 1972. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. Interesting fact: Ellington wrote the Queens Suite for Queen Elizabeth II, who was presented with a single pressing of the recording which was not commercially issued during Ellington's lifetime. This newly re-mastered edition features a previously unreleased bonus track; the only known recording of the Ellington composition 'The Kiss'.

NEWPORT TO PARIS

Digitally re-mastered edition of this album from the Jazz great. Duke Ellington was perhaps Jazz music's greatest composer of the 20th century. His importance led to him being asked to provide the musical focal point for the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1963, freeing all slaves who were living in the 10 states rebelling in the Civil War. Ellington wrote an extended piece which combined newly composed music with well-chosen works from earlier in his career and captured a wide panorama of the black American experience: From Gospel to the Blues. Singer Joy Sherrill was often the focal point, ably assisted by the Ellington Orchestra. Stridently titled MY PEOPLE and featuring an early musical tribute to Martin Luther King, it was released on Bob Thiele's mid-'60s Contact label but failed to sell in large numbers. Thiele reissued it on Flying Dutchman in the early '70s, but this is the first time that it has been reunited with it's original artwork.

2009 two CD collection from the Jazz great. Duke Ellington composed prodigiously, toured the world relentlessly with his peerless big band, and left an enduring legacy, enhanced in the early 1950s by the dynamic drumming of Louie Bellson. This compilation features highlights of his recordings with Bellson. Primo.

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. On this album we present a rare stereo recording of Duke's Rainbow Room Octet as they were captured playing live in New York at the famous Rainbow Room, during the summer of 1967. This is the second of only perhaps two issued live recordings of this rare instrumentation, (the other was featured in a previous release entitled Contrapuntal Riposte, SQU 216) 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 this Rainbow Room radio broadcast, and you will experience some of the most swingingly warm moments ever captured on an Ellington recording.

It is 1969, and the great pianist/composer Duke Ellington was on one of his many arduous European tours. However for the first time we are afforded a snapshot of one of his most intimate club performances ever recorded. The place is Cabaret L'Alcazar in Paris, France, and Ellington and his 'instrument', the Famous Orchestra are in rare form, bringing forth a funky, soulful energy sparked of course by his assistant arranger at the time, Hammond Organ pioneer Wild Bill Davis. The great Johnny Hodges, still within a year of his life's ending, is playing excellently still, showing no signs of slowing down here. The famous celebrity Maurice Chevalier was in the house, even gifting the Duke one of his famous hats. It's a party atmosphere entirely but the music is as consistent and swinging as ever. Luminaries such as Hodges, Cootie Williams, Cat Anderson, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, and Lawrence Brown are all cooking here. This is truly a night to remember, and needs to be heard by Ellington aficionados and music lovers alike.

1969 marked Duke Ellington's 70th year, and in honor of the occasion, Jazz Impresario George Wein sent Ellington and his band out on a European tour, a 70th birthday tour, so to speak. In a brief concert series entitled "Newport to Paris", for the first time on record we have the chance to hear Duke and the band performing live in Paris, and the Salle Pleyel in November, 1969. On this night we hear Duke and his orchestra in rare form, presenting a few of such newly written compositions, featuring luminaries like Cootie Williams, Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown, Russell Procope, Paul Gonsalves, Cat Anderson and more.

As the year 1967 rolled in on Duke Ellington, he found himself overlooking a steep cliff. His writing and arranging partner Billy Strayhorn had taken ill, and would pass on by the end of May of that year, and he, with 16 piece big band in tow, had just embarked on a European tour. The great challenge of Strayhorn being out of action was the fact that now Ellington would once again be tasked with doing the bulk of his writing alone once again, a role he had not had to fully assume since 1937. Now, at the age of 68, he had to set out to compose and arrange a new "book" for touring. In addition to his usual extended pieces, he would generally craft solo numbers which were specially arranged to present his soloists in their best possible light before crowds around the world. On this night in 1967 we hear Duke and his orchestra in rare form, presenting a few of such newly written compositions, featuring luminaries like Cootie Williams, Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown, Russell Procope, Paul Gonsalves, Cat Anderson and more.

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.

Duke Ellington was of course known as a bandleader and one of the greatest of all American composers, but as a pianist, he was equally as great and influential, yet often overlooked. Here for the first time on CD and digital release, we present Ellington at his refined best, in the mid 1960s. This recording was made at Columbia University in New York City, and for the most part it's pure solo piano by Duke. He gives us several of his jewels, such as Fleurette Africaine (Little African Flower), Melancholia, as well as a previously unrecorded solo version Bird of Paradise, which dates back to 1935. Of course as usual, there is the standard medley of Ellington "hits" where he is joined by bassist Ernie Shepard, and drummer Sam Woodyard for a trio setting. This 1964 Solo Piano concert reaffirms what a wonderful experience it is to hear "The Piano Player" live, doing his thing.

ELLINGTON AT NEWPORT

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.

Following it's international debut at Yale University in 1977, Mercer Ellington and the Duke Ellington Orchestra along with the Polish National Philharmonic, presented Duke Ellington's final extended piece, "Les Trois Rois Noirs" (The Three Black Kings) at the Polish Jazz Festival "Jazz Jamboree". This recording was released as a collectors item only in 1981, but has never seen light of day since. Here in 2017, we finally are able to present this truly incredible work, orchestrated by Luther Henderson, under the direct instruction of The Maestro himself, on his hospital bed in 1974 in New York City, where unfortunately Ellington would soon pass away from Cancer. Thanks to Henderson and Ellington's son Mercer, we now have these "concerto grosso" arrangements for Jazz Big Band and Symphony Orchestra. The piece itself is incredibly powerful and spiritual, based on Elington's vision of HIS Three Black Kings: The Black King of the Magi, King Solomon, and a man he admired and met personally, Dr. Martin Luther King., Jr. Some strong members of the later Ellington band remained in the band here, such as Barrie Lee Hall, Rocky White, Harold Minerve, and other posthumous Ellingtonians such as James Bolden, J.J. Wiggins, and David Young. It should be mentioned that this recording also includes a truly definitive version of Ellington's only Piano Concerto, "New World A-Coming", featuring guest soloist Adam Makowicz, the Polish Jazz Star who does an expressive and thorough interpretation, definitely up to par with Ellington himself. Finally, we get to hear the full blown orchestration of the Alvin Ailey Ballet piece The River, composed by Ellington in it's entirely, again with the assistance of Luther Henderson, orchestration, based on Ellington's own Big Band "demo" versions he recorded himself for Ailey's choreographic use. This rare rendition is a super-charged soulfully exciting journey through a man's life, perhaps autobiographical for Duke, taking us from the genesis of birth to old age and back again. However it is the complete and purely Ellingtonian official version of Three Black Kings that will kick your heart and soul into high gear, as you finally will get to hear Ellington's final vision the way he indeed wanted it heard

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.

Back in 1970, Duke Ellington was at the threshold of a new sound. Yet again like so many times before, he was to take in his surroundings, musically and otherwise, and bring forth a new style for his musicalinstrument, his Famous Orchestra. Billy Strayhorn, his writing and arranging companion was now dead, and the bulk of the writing was once again falling on Ellington's shoulders. Hammond Organ pioneer Wild BillDavis took up some of the slack, as he became Duke's assistant arranger, but Ellington seems to know at this point, that pushing hisown limits was needed. This outing documents the final days of star saxophonist Johnny Hodges. The setting is the Cave Theatre Restaurant in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada, and the feeling is warm and intimate, but there is a decided edge to the feel of the music. The exotic power of drummer Rufus Jones is making a mark, and Ellington is about to bring US on his final journey through "The Jungle" once again.

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.

In the mid 1980s Mercer Ellington, the son of legendary American Composer/Bandleader Duke Ellington made several attempts to get his father's posthumous big band in the studio to record albums in order to stay relevant. While recording in L.A., he employed both East Coast and West Coast nuclei, which were utilized for Mercer's touring band. On Harlem Throwbacks, the focus was to do modern recreations of records made in the Cotton Club days of the late 1920s up to the early 1940s. Several Duke Ellington alumni were present for this outing, such as Harold Minerve, Art Baron, Rocky White, Anita Moore, Barrie Lee Hall, and Chuck Connors. It is quite interesting to hear these classic arrangements re-recorded in digital stereo in 1984.

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

PLAYS MARY POPPINS / AFRO BOSSA

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Japanese SHM-CD pressing packaged in a paper sleeve. Universal. 2023.