The Duke Plays Ellington Explained

The Duke Plays Ellington
Type:	Album
Artist:	Duke Ellington
Cover:	The Duke Plays Ellington.jpg
Released:	1953
Recorded:	April 13 & 14, and December 3, 1953
Venue:	Capitol, 5515 Melrose Ave, Hollywood
Genre:	Jazz
Label:	Capitol
Chronology:	Duke Ellington
Prev Title:	Premiered by Ellington
Prev Year:	1953
Next Title:	Ellington ‘55
Next Year:	1953

The Duke Plays Ellington is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington featuring trio sessions recorded for the Capitol label in 1953.^[1] The album was rereleased with additional tracks on CD as Piano Reflections in 1989

Reception

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars and stated: "Ellington sounds modern (especially rhythmically and in his chord voicings) and shows that he could have made a viable career out of just being a pianist."^[2]

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated

1. "Who Knows?" - 2:37
2. "Retrospection" - 3:58
3. "B Sharp Blues" - 2:47
4. "Passion Flower" (Billy Strayhorn) - 3:05
5. "Dancers in Love" - 1:56
6. "Reflections in D" - 3:35
7. "Melancholia" - 3:20
8. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills) - 3:04
9. "In a Sentimental Mood" (Ellington, Mills, Manny Kurtz) - 2:30
10. "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington) - 2:56
11. "All Too Soon" (Ellington, Carl Sigman) - 3:08
12. "Janet" - 2:15
13. "Kinda Dukish" - 2:32 Bonus track on CD reissue
14. "Montevideo" - 2:33 Bonus track on CD reissue
15. "December Blue" - 2:40 Bonus track on CD reissue

• Recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles on April 13 (tracks 1-8), April 14 (tracks 9-12), and December 3 (tracks 13-15), 1953.

Personnel

• Duke Ellington – piano
• Wendell Marshall - bass
• Butch Ballard - drums (tracks 1-12)
• Dave Black (drummer) - drums (tracks 13-15)
• Ralph Collier - congas (track 14)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ellington Sessions (53). A Duke Ellington Panorama. 2024-06-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20190510204829fw_/http://www.depanorama.net/sess.htm. 2019-05-10. usurped.
2. Yanow, S. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r138244|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic Review] accessed May 21, 2010