Yesterday, I was craving Duke. You know how it is. You find yourself in the mood for Ellington's earthy compositions, elegant arrangements, crisp horns, mournful trombones and mink-like reeds, and you have to hear it. So you listen to his Blanton-Webster band of the early 1940s and the Gonsalves-Terry band of the early '50s and beyond, and suddenly you feel alive in a different way. A day of Ellington inspired me to share five recently posted YouTube clips of the Ellington band in action. Plus I added a bonus clip that isn't as recent, but you should dig it just the same:
Here's a free-wheeling rehearsal in 1950...
Here's Hi-Fi Fo-Fum at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1958...
Here's Satin Doll, featuring bassist Jimmy Woode, in 1959...
Here's Ellington at Palermo Pop in Italy, in 1970...
Bonus: And here's Ellington in the studio in the summer of 1967 recording Rondolet...
Here's a free-wheeling rehearsal in 1950...
Here's Hi-Fi Fo-Fum at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1958...
Here's Satin Doll, featuring bassist Jimmy Woode, in 1959...
Here's Ellington at Palermo Pop in Italy, in 1970...
Bonus: And here's Ellington in the studio in the summer of 1967 recording Rondolet...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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