I needed to draft a new policy on the spot this morning. As much as I love Duke Ellington, 66 songs in a single day is overload. So, when dealing with sets of more than two discs, the randomizer will focus in on just one of the discs.
The Blanton-Webster era was a virtual speck in Ellington's lengthy career, (mostly) representing his work with bassist Jimmy Blanton and sax-man Ben Webster. All of these songs were recorded between 1940 and 1942, with disc 1 covering the early side of this range. And considering they weren't just bashing out standards but a number of Ellington originals, some of his most renowned, that's a staggering output in such a short period of time.
Ellington was at the peak of his powers during this period, in the postwar era he steadily eroded before enjoying a resurgence following the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Until I picked this up, that was pretty much my knowledge of Ellington in performance. Of course his compositions are everywhere in jazz and are still enjoying fresh interpretations from new artists. Ellington himself also pops up from time to time in small outfits, like the trio (with Max Roach and Charles Mingus) that did Money Jungle, as well as a collaboration with John Coltrane, included on the Ken Burns Jazz disc reviewed last week.
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