Duke Ellington discography

This is the discography of recordings by Duke Ellington, including those nominally led by his sidemen (mainly in the 1930s and early 1940s), and his later collaborations (mainly in the 1960s) with musicians with whom Ellington had generally not previously recorded.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title Label Year recorded Notes
1947[1] Duke Ellington Plays the Blues RCA Victor 10-inch LP; [na 1]
1947 Ellington Special Columbia 4 x 10" 78 rpm
1948 Liberian Suite Columbia 10-inch LP
1951 Masterpieces by Ellington Columbia [nb 1]
1952 Ellington Uptown Columbia 1952
1953 Premiered by Ellington Capitol 1953
1953 The Duke Plays Ellington Capitol 1953
1954 Dance to the Duke! Capitol 1954
1955 Ellington '55 Capitol 1955
1955 Ellington Showcase Capitol 1955
1956 Blue Rose Columbia 1955 with Rosemary Clooney
1956 Historically Speaking Bethlehem
1956 Duke Ellington Presents... Bethlehem 1955
1957 A Drum Is a Woman Columbia 1955
1957 Such Sweet Thunder Columbia 1955
1957 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book Verve 1955 with Ella Fitzgerald
1958 Black, Brown and Beige Columbia 1955 with Mahalia Jackson
1958 Ellington Indigos Columbia 1955
1958 Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque Columbia 1955
1958 The Cosmic Scene Columbia 1955
1959 Jazz Party Columbia 1955
1959 Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues Verve 1955 with Johnny Hodges
1959 Side by Side Verve 1955 with Johnny Hodges
1959 Anatomy of a Murder Columbia 1955 soundtrack album
1959 Festival Session Columbia 1955
1960 Blues in Orbit Columbia
1960 The Nutcracker Suite Columbia
1960 Piano in the Background Columbia [nc 1]
1961 Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G. Columbia AKA Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday
1961 Piano in the Foreground Columbia
1961 The Great Reunion Roulette with Louis Armstrong
1961 Together Again Roulette with Louis Armstrong
1961 Paris Blues United Artists Paris Blues soundtrack
1961 First Time! The Count Meets the Duke Columbia with Count Basie
1962 All American in Jazz Columbia
1962 Midnight in Paris Columbia
1963 Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins Impulse! with Coleman Hawkins
1963 Duke Ellington & John Coltrane Impulse! 1962 with John Coltrane
1963 Money Jungle United Artists with Charles Mingus and Max Roach
1963 Afro-Bossa Reprise
1964 The Symphonic Ellington Reprise
1965 My People Red Baron
1965 Will Big Bands Ever Come Back? Reprise
1965 Ellington '65 Reprise
1965 Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins Reprise
1965 Ellington '66 Reprise
1965 Ella at Duke's Place Verve with Ella Fitzgerald
1966 Serenade to Sweden Reprise 1965 with Alice Babs
1967 Far East Suite RCA
1967 The Popular Duke Ellington RCA
1968 ...And His Mother Called Him Bill RCA 1967
1968 Francis A. & Edward K. Reprise 1967 with Frank Sinatra
1968 Second Sacred Concert Prestige studio recording, despite the title
1969 North of the Border in Canada Decca 1967 with the Ron Collier Orchestra
1970 New Orleans Suite Atlantic
1970 Orchestral Works Decca
1972 Latin American Suite Fantasy 1968 & 1970
1973 This One's for Blanton! Pablo with Ray Brown
1973 It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing Flying Dutchman with Teresa Brewer
1974 Recollections of the Big Band Era Atlantic 1962–63 recorded for Reprise
1974 Duke's Big 4 Pablo
Posthumous albums
1974 The Pianist Fantasy 1966 & 1970
1975 The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse Fantasy 1971
1976 Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session Atlantic 1963
1976 The Ellington Suites Pablo 1959–72
1977 The Intimate Ellington Pablo 1969–71
1979 Unknown Session Columbia 1960
1979 Up in Duke's Workshop Pablo 1969–72
1985 Featuring Paul Gonsalves Fantasy 1962
1986 The Intimacy of the Blues Fantasy 1967–70
2004 The Jaywalker Storyville 1966–1967

Live albums

Year Title Label Year recorded Notes
1946 Black, Brown, and Beige Victor 2 × 12" 78 rpm
1954 The Seattle Concert RCA Victor
1956 Ellington at Newport Columbia
1956[2] Duke Ellington and the Buck Clayton All Stars at Newport Columbia
1958 Newport 1958 Columbia live concert with studio work, later full concert released as Live at Newport 1958
1959 Live at the Blue Note Roulette
1965 Concert in the Virgin Islands Reprise
1966 The Duke at Tanglewood RCA Victor with the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler
1966 A Concert of Sacred Music from Grace Cathedral Status See: Sacred Concert (Ellington)
1967 Soul Call Verve
1967 The Stockholm Concert, 1966 Pablo with Ella Fitzgerald
1967 Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur Verve with Ella Fitzgerald
1970 70th Birthday Concert Solid State
1971 Togo Brava Suite United Artists
1973 Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II Columbia 1958
1973 The Great Paris Concert Atlantic 1963
1973 Yale Concert Fantasy 1968
Posthumous live albums
1975 The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World Pablo 1967 Various artists
1975 Third Sacred Concert RCA 1973
1975 Eastbourne Performance RCA 1973
1977 The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1947 Prestige 1947
1977 The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 Prestige 1943
1977 The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1944 Prestige 1944
1977 The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1946 Prestige 1946
2001 Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live Storyville 1940
1983 All Star Road Band Doctor Jazz 1957
1985 All Star Road Band Volume 2 Doctor Jazz 1964
1986 In the Uncommon Market Pablo 1963–66
1991 Hot Summer Dance Red Baron 1960
1995 Live at the Whitney Impulse! 1972
2002 Duke Ellington at the Alhambra Pablo 1958

Compilations

Listed here are all compilations released during Ellington's lifetime, in addition to all significant compilations, excluding the aforementioned[na 1] box sets.

Year Title Label Date recorded Notes
1940 The Duke Columbia
1943 A Duke Ellington Panorama Victor 1927–1940 4 x 78 RPM
1943 Ellingtonia, Vol. One Brunswick 1927–1931 4 × 78 RPM
1944 Ellingtonia, Vol. Two Brunswick 1928–1931 4 × 78 RPM
1949 Mood Ellington Columbia 10-inch LP
1955 The Duke and His Men
1955 Here's the Duke Columbia
1955 Duke's Mixture Columbia
1955 Blue Light Columbia 1934–1939
1956 The Music Of Duke Ellington Played By Duke Ellington Columbia Unclear if all or only some tracks were previously released
1956 In a Mellotone RCA Victor 1940–1942
1959[3] Ellington Moods Jazz Legacy
The Duke's D.J. Special Fresh Sound Records
1964 Daybreak Express
1964 Great Times! Riverside with Billy Strayhorn
1965 Jumpin' Punkins RCA Victor 1940–1941
1967[4] Johnny Come Lately
1968 Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits Columbia
Posthumous compilations
1982 The Girl's Suite and The Perfume Suite Columbia 1957 & 1961
1985 Happy Reunion Sony 1958 two sessions from 1958
1986[5] The Blanton–Webster Band RCA/Bluebird 1940–1942
1987 Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956 LMR 1956 The Private Sessions Volume One
1987 Dance Concerts, California 1958 LMR 1958 The Private Sessions Volume Two
1987 Studio Sessions, New York, 1962 LMR 1962 The Private Collection Volume Three
1987 Studio Sessions New York 1963 LMR 1963 The Private Collection Volume Four
1987 Dance Dates, California 1958 LMR 1958 The Private Sessions Volume Six
1987 Studio Sessions 1957 & 1962 LMR 1957, 1962 The Private Collection Volume Seven
1987 Studio Sessions, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, San Francisco, Chicago, New York LMR 1957, 1965–1967 The Private Collection Volume Eight
1987 Studio Sessions New York, 1968 LMR 1968 The Private Collection Volume Nine
1987 Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971 LMR 1965–1967, 1971 The Private Collection Volume Ten
1988 The Suites, New York 1968 & 1970 LMR 1968, 1970 The Private Collection Volume Five
1991 Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year Portrait 1938
1993 Duke Ellington's Incidental Music for Shakespeare's Play Timon of Athens adapted by Stanley Silverman; posthumous recordings of previously unreleased compositions
2003 Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band Bluebird 1940–1942 from the Centennial set of 1999
The Duke Box 2[6] 1952–1972 Storyville 7-CD/1-DVD set
The Private Collection (1956–1971) 1956–1971 Saja 10-CD set

Session appearances

Hit records

Year Single Chart positions Footnotes
US US
R&B 		UK
1927 "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" 10 [na 2]
1928 "Black and Tan Fantasy" 15
"Creole Love Call" 19
"Doin' the New Low Down" 20
"Diga Diga Doo"[7] 17
"The Mooche" 16
1930 "Three Little Words" 1
"Ring Dem Bells" 17
1931 "Blue Again" 12
"Mood Indigo" 3
"Rockin' in Rhythm" 19
"Creole Rhapsody Parts 1 & 2" 18
"Limehouse Blues" 13
1932 "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" 6
"Creole Rhapsody" (new version) 19
"Rose Room (in Sunny Roseland)" 15
"Moon over Dixie" 14
"Blue Ramble" 16
1933 "Drop Me Off in Harlem" 17
"Sophisticated Lady" 3
"Stormy Weather" 4
"I'm Satisfied" 11
"In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" 13
1934 "Daybreak Express" 20
"Cocktails for Two" 1
"Moon Glow" 2
"Solitude" 2
"Saddest Tale" 9
1935 "Merry-Go-Round" 6
"In a Sentimental Mood" 14
"Accent on Youth" 6
"Cotton" 4
1936 "Isn't Love the Strangest Thing?" 12
"Love Is Like a Cigarette" 8
"Clarinet Lament" 12
"Echoes of Harlem" 19
"Oh Babe! Maybe Someday" 8
"Jazz Lips" 20
"Yearning for Love" 16
1937 "The New East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" 16
"There's a Lull in My Life" 12
"Scattin' at the Kit Kat" 9
"Caravan" 4
"Azure" 13
"All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" 14
1938 "Harmony in Harlem" 15
"If You Were in My Place (What Would You Do?)" 10
"I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" 1
"The Gal from Joe's" 20
"Lambeth Walk" 7
"Prelude to a Kiss" 18
1940 "You, You, Darlin'" 28 [na 3]
"Ko Ko" 25
"At a Dixie Roadside Diner" 27
"Sepia Panorama" 24
1941 "Flamingo" 11
"Take the 'A' Train" 11
"I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" 13
1942 "Hayfoot, Strawfoot" 10 [na 4]
1943 "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" 8 1
"Perdido" 21
"Take the 'A' Train" (re-entry) 19
"Bojangles" 19
"A Slip of the Lip" 19 1
"Sentimental Lady" 19 1
1944 "Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me" 10 1
"Main Stem" 23 1
"My Little Brown Book" 4
"Someone" 7
"I Don't Mind" 9
1945 "I'm Beginning to See the Light" 6 4
"Don't You Know I Care" 10
"I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues" 4
1946 "Come to Baby, Do" 13
1948 "Don't Be So Mean to Baby" 15
1953 "Satin Doll"
"Boo Dah" 30
1954 "Skin Deep" 7

Singles

Footnotes

Early years: 1920–1940s

  1. ^ a b As the long-player format didn't become a significant part of the industry until the late 1940s, Ellington's record output before 1947 consisted largely of singles, from labels such as RCA Victor, Okeh, and Brunswick. They represent the bulk of his work that has been collected in box sets, while material from other labels is scattered. The most comprehensive source for Ellington's early work are the multi-volume The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra Classics releases, although that series omits alternate takes, which can be found in other collections.
  2. ^ During the 1920s and 1930s, Ellington and his band recorded for almost every label (BluDisc, Pathé, Perfect, Victor, Brunswick, Columbia Records, Okeh, Vocalion, Cameo, Romeo, Lincoln, Banner, Domino, Jewel, and Hit of the Week).
  3. ^ By the 1940s, Ellington's recordings featuring Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster, garnered praise of his work as being "the best Ellington", according to critic Bob Blumenthal.[8]
  4. ^ Activity in the commercial recording industry was restricted during the 1942–1944 musicians' strike which including a recording ban, but Ellington did make annual visits to Carnegie Hall. In the January 1943 concert, Ellington introduced his first extended suite, "Black, Brown and Beige".

1950s

  1. ^ Ellington began the 1950s with his career seemingly in decline with several musicians leaving, Lawrence Brown, Sonny Greer, and Johnny Hodges, although Brown and Hodges later rejoined. After the orchestra's appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, with Paul Gonsalves running through 27 choruses of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", Ellington's profile revived.

1960s

  1. ^ In the 1960s, Ellington made recordings with Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, and Frank Sinatra, among others. He continued to write and record extended suites, such as his religious "Sacred Concerts", the "Perfume Suite", and the "Latin American Suite".

References

  1. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1947-08-23.
  2. ^ Duke Ellington - Duke Ellington and the Buck Clayton All-Stars at Newport Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic, retrieved 2023-02-12
  3. ^ Duke Ellington - Ellington Moods, retrieved 2023-02-12
  4. ^ Duke Ellington - Johnny Come Lately, retrieved 2023-02-12
  5. ^ Gold, Gerald (December 7, 1986). "Bluebird Flies Once More". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  6. ^ Mosey, Chris (December 14, 2016). "Duke Elllington And His Orchestra: The Duke Box 2". All About Jazz. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. ^ Brothers, Thomas (2018). Help!: The Beatles, Duke Ellington, and the Magic of Collaboration. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393246247.
  8. ^ The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide, p. 70.