Duke Ellington - My People - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Duke Ellington ?- Newport To Paris (1969) In a brief concert series entitled InchNewport to ParisInch, 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. Acoustic Bass - Victor Gaskin / Alto Saxophone - Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope / Baritone Saxophone - Harry Carney / Bass Trombone - Chuck Connors / Drums - Rufus Jones / Piano - Duke Ellington / Tenor Saxophone - Don Byas, Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves / Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute - Norris Turney / Trombone - Lawrence Brown / Trumpet - Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington, Nelson Williams Album Tracks 1. Black Power 2. Take the a Train 3. Up Jump (Tenor Saxophonic Calisthenics) 4. Black Butterfly 5. Things Ain't What They Used to Be 6. El Gato 7. Satin Doll 8. Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue

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 InchWashingtoniansInch was dropped and seldom used again. On this album, we present the totality of the recordings by Duke Ellington during his InchWashingtonianInch period.

In 1955 the great Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performed for the 10,000 seat D. C. Armory, in his hometown of Washington, D. C. As Ellington fans will of course remember, Ellington had an incredible rebirth at the Newport Jazz Festival the next year, after reacquiring alto saxophone star Johnny Hodges and his writing partner, the great Billy Strayhorn. New drummer Sam Woodyard would also prove to be an invaluable part of the new Ellington sound, but as this concert is from 1955, none of these changes had as yet taken place, which is why this performance is so very significant to the Ellington aficionado. In this performance we have the great alto saxophonist Rick Henderson, who was a very capable arranger as well as bebop altoist. Here we get to hear a rare glimpse of his playing and writing on 'All The Things You Are'. He was not featured as the band's lead alto, as Russell Procope had taken over after brief stints in which Willie Smith and then Hilton Jefferson played lead in the band. We also hear from the great drummer Dave Black, for whom Strayhorn composed and arranged 'Gonna Tan Your Hide', and here he is most interestingly heard in his interpretation of 'Tone Parallel to Harlem'. Perdido is used as a swinging vehicle for Clark Terry's prodigious and sassy story telling, along with some sidebar commentary by other brass members Nance, Anderson, and Woodman. 'Just Squeeze Me' features Ray Nance's soulfully swaggerful singing as always. Pay attention to the 'pep section' (brass with plungers) as they squeeze so much juice out of this song it should be a crime! Cat Anderson does his usual Spanish tinged feature on 'La Virgen', full of suspenseful dramatics and prowlery of 'el gato' himself. Duke announces a fully descriptive introduction of the 1946 composition 'Happy Go-Lucky Local' complete with his subliminal shot at ex-Ellingtonian tenor saxophonist Jimmy