GREAT SUMMIT

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

PLAYS MARY POPPINS / AFRO BOSSA

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

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.

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.

This 1956 album features updated arrangements of Duke Ellington's early compositions. Recorded for Bethlehem at Universal Recording Corp., Chicago on February 7 and 8, 1956. Remastered on 180g Black Vinyl.

BEST OF

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.

The coolest of R&B jazz kings returns to his signature smooth funk with guests including Chante Moore, Anointed, Flora Purim, Perri and more. Tracks: "Never Be Another," "Marin City," "She's Amazing" 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).

PIANO IN THE BACKGROUND

DUKE AT TANGLEWOOD

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.

PRIVATE COLLECTION 7: STUDIO SESSIONS 1957 & 1962

PRIVATE COLLECTION 5: NEW YORK 1968-70

PRIVATE COLLECTION 1: CHICAGO

PRIVATE COLLECTION 9: STUDIO SESSIONS 1968

NEW ORLEANS SUITE

This collection compiles, for the first time on a single disc issue, all the master takes of the instrumental recordings in which Duke Ellington participated for Mercer Records between 1950 and 1951. Made under the names of other band members - for contractual reasons, these sides feature the likes of Johnny Hodges, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Billy Strayhorn, Louie Bellson, Juan Tizol and Willie Smith. These sides remain among the most unusual and fascinating in Duke's extensive catalogue. Unfortunately, the masters for these recordings were destroyed in a fire in the 1950's. For this issue they have been transferred and restored from the best possible surviving sources and remastered to the best quality possible.

Here is a time capsule into the world of a musical titan who, after four decades at the helm of jazz innovation, was still striding through new artistic terrain with ease. Picture Duke Ellington-sharp as ever in a tailored suit, leading his octet through the glittering New York night atop Rockefeller Center. It's August of '67, and in the Rainbow Room, with it's cocktail-clinking ambiance, Duke and his select ensemble of veterans are reinventing the jazz vocabulary with every note.