Ella Fitzgerald's second studio session with Duke Ellington followed her first (Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book) by eight years.
The underrated set begins quietly with four emotional ballads (who else could hold their own with Johnny Hodges on "Passion Flower?") before Fitzgerald gets to scat a bit on the closing vamp of "Azure," comes up with fresh ideas on "Duke's Place," and closes the show by scatting up a storm on "Cotton Tail." The band makes its presence known in the ensembles, some solos by tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, altoist Hodges and trumpeter Cootie Williams (whose opening spot on "Duke's Place" is quite jubilant), and the high-note trumpet of Cat Anderson.
Ella Fitzgerald is heard in peak form throughout this date.
Recommended.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Passion FlowerBilly Strayhorn | Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 44 MB |
| 2 | Cotton TailDuke Ellington | Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington | Play | 03:42 | 8 MB | 38 MB |
| 3 | Brownskin Gal In The Calico Gown | Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 49 MB |
| 13 mins | 30 MB | |||||
| 13 mins | 132 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat Anderson | Guest Artist, Trumpet |
| 2 | Lawrence Brown | Trombone |
| 3 | Harry Carney | Guest Artist, Sax (Baritone) |
| 4 | Chuck Connors | Trombone |
| 5 | Buster Cooper | Trombone |
| 6 | Nichell Delvaille | Design |
| 7 | Marina Detienne | Assistant Producer |
| 8 | Duke Ellington | Composer, Performer, Piano, Primary Artist |
| 9 | Mercer Ellington | Composer |
| 10 | Steven Fallone | Mastering |
| 11 | Ella Fitzgerald | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 12 | Paul Gonsalves | Sax (Tenor) |
| 13 | Norman Granz | Producer |
| 14 | Jimmy Hamilton | Clarinet, Sax (Tenor) |
| 15 | Johnny Hodges | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 16 | Herbie Jones | Trumpet |
| 17 | Bob Katz | Composer |
| 18 | Frankie Laine | Composer |
| 19 | John Lamb | Bass |
| 20 | Michael Lang | Supervisor |
| 21 | Herman Leonard | Photography |
| 22 | Irving Mills | Composer |
| 23 | Aric Lach Morrison | Production Coordination |
| 24 | Russell Procope | Clarinet, Sax (Alto) |
| 25 | Peter Pullman | Editing |
| 26 | Jessica Raimi | Assistant Producer |
| 27 | Keith Shadwick | Liner Notes |
| 28 | Billy Strayhorn | Composer |
| 29 | Bob Thiele | Composer |
| 30 | Jay Thompson | Photography |
| 31 | Wendi Traub-Cohen | Art Direction |
| 32 | Paul Francis Webster | Composer |
| 33 | Cootie Williams | Guest Artist, Trumpet |
| 34 | Gerald Wilson | Composer |
| 35 | Sam Woodyard | Drums |
| 36 | Ben Young | Research |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |