Today in Music (1956): Duke Ellington played at the Newport jazz festival

At Newport Duke Ellington

Recorded: July 7, 1956 Charted: June 24, 1957 Peak: 14 US Sales (in millions): -- Genre: jazz

Tracks, Disc 1: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. The Star-Spangled Banner Father Norman O’Connor Introduces Duke & the Orchestra/ Duke Introduces Tune & Anderson, Jackson, & Procope Black and Tan Fantasy (5/5/28, 15 US) Duke Introduces Cook & Tune Tea for Two Duke & Band Leave Stage/ Father Norman O’Connor Talks about the Festival Take the ‘A’ Train (7/26/41, 11 US) Duke Announces Strayhorn’s A Train & Nance Duke Introduces Festival Suite, Part 1 & Hamilton Part I – Festival Junction Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II Part II – Blues to Be There Duke Announces Nance & Procope; Introduces Part III Part III – Newport Up Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves, & Terry/ Duke Introduces Carney & Tune Sophisticated Lady (5/27/33, 3 US) Duke Announces Grissom & Tune Day in, Day Out Duke Introduces Tune(s) and Paul Gonsalves Interludes Diminuendo in Blue/ Crescendo in Blue Announcements, Pandemonium Pause Track Tracks, Disc 2: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good (10/11/41, 13 US) Jeep’s Blues Duke Calms Crowd, Introduces Nance & Tune Tulip or Turnip Riot Prevention Skin Deep (3/5/54, 7 UK) Mood Indigo (2/14/31, 3 US) Studio Concert [Excerpts] Father Norman O’Connor Introduces Duke Ellington/ Duke Introduces New Work, Part I, & Hamilton * Part I – Festival Junction * Duke Announces Soloists; Introduces Part II * Part II – Blues to Be There * Duke Announces Nance & Procope; Introduces Part III * Part III – Newport Up * Duke Announces Hamilton, Gonsalves, & Terry/ Pause/ Duke Introduces Johnny Hodges * I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good * Jeep’s Blues [studio] * Pause Track * * These are the only songs from the original release; see notes. Total Running Time: 2:09:57 The Players: Duke Ellington (piano) Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry (trumpets) Quentin Jackson, Lawrence Brown, John Sanders, Britt Woodman (trombones) Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney (saxophones) Russell Procope, Jimmy Woode (clarinet) Al Lucas (bass) Sam Woodyard (drums) Ray Nance, Jimmy Grissom (vocals)

Rating: 4.073 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Quotable: “One of the greatest live jazz festival recordings” – Bruce Eder, All Music Guide Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Ellington's original…Newport album was his best-selling long-player ever, and re-established him, after a two-year drought in the wake of his unsuccessful stay at Capitol, as a vitally popular jazz artist, perceived as worth courting by the major labels.” AMG “When Duke Ellington took his orchestra to the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956, the band was in need of an uplift, some humongous event that would revitalize its image in the wake of bebop, hard bop, and so many more jazz currents.” AB “Trouble…is that the living document of the Newport show is almost fully manufactured, recorded in a studio with crowd madness dubbed in.” AB “In keeping with Columbia’s standard operating proceedure of the day, a cut-and-paste job made up of studio re-recordings of the festival’s repertory.” AMG “The producers revisited the Newport gig after four decades because they discovered an extant Voice of America tape – the one whose microphone Gonsalves blew his solo into, and the VOA tape catches the whole Newport set in its organic glory.” AB “The result is the first complete consideration of the actual Newport performance, as well as a complete account of the studio-generated portions of the original release.” AMG The latter “aren’t as exciting as the live renditions, but are worth hearing” AB and “make great siblings, illustrative of the live-event charm and the music industry’s dogged labors in reinventing it on record.” AB “The highlight is an extraordinarily vivid account” AMG of the merging of “Diminuendo in Blue with set-closer Crescendo in Blue tacked on the end. Tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves got the nod from Ellington to segue from ‘Diminuendo’ to ‘Crescendo,’ and he blew doors. With one rousing 27-chorus solo, Gonsalves blew a fever into the crowd and jump-started Ellingtonia for another generation.” AB “Alternately tender with layers of brushstroke orchestration and blazing with the band’s well-seasoned tightness, this new Newport is one for the generalist and the Ellington completist.” AB “One of the greatest live jazz festival recordings ever has gotten better.” AMG Notes: The original release contained only the songs marked with an asterisk (*). The above track listing reflects the 1999 reissue, Complete At Newport.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Duke Ellington AB Andrew Bartlett, Amazon.com essential recording AMG All Music Guide review by Bruce Eder WK Wikipedia Last updated 3/14/2024.