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 the Antibes Jazz Festival in July 1966...
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...
