Blues in Orbit
Blues in Orbit | ||||
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Studio album by Duke Ellington | ||||
Released | 1960 | |||
Recorded | February 4 & 12, 1958, February 25, December 2 & 3, 1959 | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Duke Ellington chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [1] |
Tom Hull | A[2] |
Blues in Orbit is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.[3]
The original liner notes by Teo Macero described this album as primarily a blues album (as most of the track titles indicate). The album was re-released on CD in 2004 with bonus tracks including alternate takes and tracks from earlier sessions.
Reception
The Allmusic reviewer Bruce Eder stated: "Blues in Orbit lacks the intellectual cachet of the suites and concept pieces that loomed large in Ellington's recordings of this period, but it's an album worth tracking down, if only to hear the band run through a lighter side of its sound. Indeed, it captures the essence of a late-night recording date that was as much a loose jam as a formal studio date, balancing the spontaneity of the former and the technical polish of the latter".[4]
Track listing
:All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
- "Three J's Blues" (Jimmy Hamilton) - 2:54
- "Smada" (Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) - 2:38
- "Pie Eye's Blues" - 3:27
- "Sweet and Pungent" (Strayhorn) - 4:03
- "C Jam Blues" (Ellington, Barney Bigard) - 4:52
- "In a Mellow Tone" (Ellington, Milt Gabler) - 2:43
- "Blues in Blueprint" - 3:43
- "The Swingers Get the Blues, Too" (Ellington, Matthew Gee) - 3:09
- "The Swinger's Jump" - 3:53
- "Blues in Orbit" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 2:29
- "Villes Ville Is the Place, Man" - 2:33
- "Track 360" - 2:03 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Sentimental Lady" - 4:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Brown Penny" (Ellington, John La Touche) - 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Pie Eye's Blues" [alternate take] - 3:32 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Sweet and Pungent" [alternate take] (Strayhorn) - 3:52 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "The Swinger's Jump" [alternate take] (Ellington) - 3:51 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Blues in Orbit" [alternate take] (Strayhorn) - 2:39 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Track 360" [alternate take] - 2:01 Bonus track on CD reissue
- Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles on February 4, 1958 (tracks 12 & 19) and February 12, 1958 (tracks 10 & 18) and at Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York on February 25, 1959 (track 11), December 2, 1959 (tracks 1, 3-5 & 13-16) and December 3, 1959 (tracks 2, 6-9 & 17).
Personnel
- Duke Ellington – piano (tracks 1, 3-6 & 8-19)
- Billy Strayhorn - piano (tracks 2 & 7)
- Ray Nance - trumpet, violin
- Cat Anderson, Shorty Baker, Clark Terry - trumpet (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19)
- Fats Ford - trumpet (track 11)
- Britt Woodman - trombone
- Matthew Gee, Booty Wood - trombone (tracks 1-9 & 13-17)
- Quentin Jackson - trombone (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19)
- John Sanders - valve trombone (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19)
- Jimmy Hamilton - clarinet, tenor saxophone
- Johnny Hodges - alto saxophone (tracks 1-9, 11 & 13-17)
- Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet
- Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone
- Harry Carney - baritone saxophone
- Jimmy Woode - bass
- Jimmy Johnson - drums (tracks 1-9 & 13-17)
- Sam Woodyard - drums (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19)
References
- ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- ^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- ^ A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine accessed May 18, 2010
- ^ Nastos, M. G. Allmusic Review accessed May 17, 2010
- v
- t
- e
- Harlem Jazz, 1930
- Ellingtonia, Vol. One
- Ellingtonia, Vol. Two
- Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
- The Blanton–Webster Band
- Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
- Smoke Rings
- Liberian Suite
- Great Times!
- Masterpieces by Ellington
- Ellington Uptown
- The Duke Plays Ellington
- Ellington '55
- Dance to the Duke!
- Ellington Showcase
- Historically Speaking
- Duke Ellington Presents...
- The Complete Porgy and Bess
- A Drum Is a Woman
- Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
- Such Sweet Thunder
- Studio Sessions 1957 & 1962
- Ellington Indigos
- Black, Brown and Beige
- Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque
- The Cosmic Scene
- Happy Reunion
- Jazz Party
- Anatomy of a Murder
- Festival Session
- Blues in Orbit
- The Nutcracker Suite
- Piano in the Background
- Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.
- Unknown Session
- Piano in the Foreground
- Paris Blues
- Featuring Paul Gonsalves
- Midnight in Paris
- Studio Sessions, New York 1962
- Afro-Bossa
- The Symphonic Ellington
- Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session
- Studio Sessions New York 1963
- My People
- Ellington '65
- Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins
- Ellington '66
- Concert in the Virgin Islands
- The Popular Duke Ellington
- Far East Suite
- The Jaywalker
- Studio Sessions, 1957, 1965, 1966, 1967, San Francisco, Chicago, New York
- ...And His Mother Called Him Bill
- Second Sacred Concert
- Studio Sessions New York, 1968
- Latin American Suite
- The Pianist
- New Orleans Suite
- Orchestral Works
- The Suites, New York 1968 & 1970
- The Intimacy of the Blues
- The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
- Studio Sessions New York & Chicago, 1965, 1966 & 1971
- The Intimate Ellington
- The Ellington Suites
- This One's for Blanton!
- Up in Duke's Workshop
- Duke's Big 4
- Mood Ellington
- Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live
- Black, Brown, and Beige
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1944
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1946
- The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1947
- Ellington at Newport
- Dance Concerts, California 1958
- Dance Dates, California 1958
- Newport 1958
- Jazz at the Plaza Vol. II
- Duke Ellington at the Alhambra
- Live at the Blue Note
- Hot Summer Dance
- The Great Paris Concert
- A Concert of Sacred Music
- In the Uncommon Market
- Soul Call
- Yale Concert
- 70th Birthday Concert
- Togo Brava Suite
- Live at the Whitney
- Third Sacred Concert
- Eastbourne Performance
- Blue Rose
- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book
- Side by Side
- Back to Back
- The Great Summit
- First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
- Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
- Money Jungle
- Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- Serenade to Sweden
- Ella at Duke's Place
- The Stockholm Concert, 1966
- Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur
- Francis A. & Edward K.
- It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
- "African Flower"
- "All Too Soon"
- "Azure"
- "Black and Tan Fantasy"
- "Black, Brown and Beige"
- "C Jam Blues"
- "Come Sunday"
- "Cotton Tail"
- "Creole Love Call"
- "Day Dream"
- "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"
- "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me"
- "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"
- "Drop Me Off in Harlem"
- "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"
- "Echoes of Harlem"
- "Everything but You"
- "I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues"
- "I Didn't Know About You"
- "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)"
- "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart"
- "I'm Beginning to See the Light"
- "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So"
- "In a Mellow Tone"
- "In a Sentimental Mood"
- "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
- "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'"
- "Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)"
- "The Mooche"
- "Mood Indigo"
- " Prelude to a Kiss"
- "Rocks in My Bed"
- "(In My) Solitude"
- "Sophisticated Lady"
- Queenie Pie (unfinished opera)
by Billy Strayhorn |
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by Juan Tizol |
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members
- Hayes Alvis
- Cat Anderson
- Ivie Anderson
- Harold Ashby
- Alice Babs
- Shorty Baker
- Butch Ballard
- Art Baron
- Aaron Bell
- Louie Bellson
- Joe Benjamin
- Barney Bigard
- Lou Blackburn
- Jimmy Blanton
- Wellman Braud
- Lawrence Brown
- Harry Carney
- Johnny Coles
- Willie Cook
- Buster Cooper
- Kay Davis
- Wild Bill Davis
- Wilbur de Paris
- Bobby Durham
- Mercer Ellington
- Rolf Ericson
- Jimmy Forrest
- Victor Gaskin
- Peter Giger
- Tyree Glenn
- Paul Gonsalves
- Sonny Greer
- Fred Guy
- Jimmy Hamilton
- Otto Hardwick
- Shelton Hemphill
- Rick Henderson
- Al Hibbler
- Johnny Hodges
- Major Holley
- Charlie Irvis
- Quentin Jackson
- Hilton Jefferson
- Herb Jeffries
- Freddie Jenkins
- Money Johnson
- Herbie Jones
- Wallace Jones
- Taft Jordan
- Al Killian
- Queen Esther Marrow
- Wendell Marshall
- Murray McEachern
- Louis Metcalf
- James "Bubber" Miley
- Harold "Geezil" Minerve
- Ray Nance
- Tricky Sam Nanton
- Oscar Pettiford
- Eddie Preston
- Russell Procope
- Junior Raglin
- Betty Roché
- Ernie Royal
- Al Sears
- Joya Sherrill
- Willie Smith
- Elmer Snowden
- Rex Stewart
- Billy Strayhorn
- Billy Taylor
- Clark Terry
- Juan Tizol
- Norris Turney
- Ben Webster
- Arthur Whetsel
- Cootie Williams
- Nelson Williams
- Skippy Williams
- Booty Wood
- Jimmy Woode
- Britt Woodman
- Sam Woodyard