Search - Duke Ellington :: Cocktail Hour: Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington and his orchestra recorded a prodigious amount of music during his long career, and most of it is of high quality. His urbane sophistication and constant innovation set the standard for all big bands to follow. The music on these two budget-priced discs include many of Ellington's greatest works, including "Take The 'A' Train," "In a Mellow Tone," "Creole Love Call," and, of course, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)." It's difficult to pin down the exact period for these sides without any session information, but judging from the presence of the incomparable Cootie Williams on "Concerto for Cootie" and Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge," these are probably late-1930s recordings. The tunes are all about three minutes in length, indicating they were transferred from 78 RPM records. This was an extraordinarily creative period for Ellington and his band, as evidenced by the variety of music on these two discs. --Wally Shoup