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Duke Ellington
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| Edward Kennedy 'Duke' Ellington was a fully-fledged musical giant known primarily as a jazz pianist, composer and bandleader. But his overall contribution to American music was much more far-reaching; his influence on fellow musicians has been extraordinary and the legacy of work he left behind will forever be with us.
EMI publishes a range of Ellington compositions drawn partially from his collaborations with his one-time manager and mentor, Irving Mills. These works contain such milestone songs as PRELUDE TO A KISS from 1938, for which the lyric (co-authored by Irving Gordon) relates: "How my love song gently cries for the tenderness within your eyes/My love is a prelude that never dies/A Prelude To A Kiss"; with similar romantic notion, Mitchell Parish's lyrical contribution to SOPHISTICATED LADY in 1933 opened: "They say into your early life romance came/And in this heart of yours burned a flame/A flame that flickered one day and died."
And if one Duke Ellington song stands out as a scene-setter for an entire era of musical evocation, it is IT DON'T MEAN A THING (IF IT AIN'T GOT THAT SWING). Copyrighted in 1932, this tune has been interpreted by a zillion other performers and was recorded by Ellington himself on several different occasions. However, the very first performance on disc by Duke & his Orchestra with vocal by Ivie Anderson remains the finest version of all.
Over the course of his career, Duke Ellington recorded most of his own key works on several occasions and the list below gives a guide to some of the countless other artists whose versions have been released over the years...
DO NOTHIN' TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME (DE/Bob Russell)
Mose Allison (Original Jazz Classics), Ernestine Anderson (Concord Jazz), Louis Armstrong (Verve), Phil Collins (Qwest), Frances Faye (Crescendo), Ella Fitzgerald (Original Jazz Classics), Al Hibbler (Atlantic), Billie Holiday (Verve), Stan Kenton (Capitol), Carmen McRae with Cal Tjader (Concord Jazz), Anita O'Day (Verve), Robert Palmer (Capitol), Diane Schuur (GRP)
I LET A SONG GO OUT OF MY HEART
(DE/Henry Nemo/John Redmond/Irving Mills)
Ernestine Anderson (Concord Jazz), Mildred Bailey (Vocalion/L'Art), Tony Bennett (Columbia), Connee Boswell (Decca/Living Era), June Christy (Capitol/Blue Note), Ella Fitzgerald (Verve), Roy Hamilton (Epic), Johnny Hartman (Hip-O), Lena Horne (RCA), Sue Raney (Musicraft), Dakota Staton (Capitol), Mel Torme (Simitar), Dinah Washington (Mercury)
IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD (DE/Emanuel Kurtz/Irving Mills)
Dr. John (Warner Bros), Billy Eckstine (Savoy Jazz), Ella Fitzgerald (Verve), Roberta Flack (Atlantic), Phyllis Hyman (Arista), Dianne Reeves (Blue Note), Sarah Vaughan (Roulette & Pablo), Nancy Wilson (Capitol/Blue Note)
IT DON'T MEAN A THING (IF IT AIN'T GOT THAT SWING)
(DE/Irving Mills)
Ernestine Anderson (Concord Jazz), Alice Babs (Bluebell), Tony Bennett (Columbia), Julie Budd (Touchwood), Joe Carroll (Epic), June Christy (Capitol), Rosemary Clooney (Concord Jazz), Ella Fitzgerald (Verve), Al Hibbler (Simitar), Cleo Laine (RCA), Peggy Lee (Capitol), Carmen McRae & Betty Carter (Verve), Helen Merrill (Verve), The Mills Brothers (Empire), Anita O'Day (DRG), Nina Simone (Colpix), Jo Stafford (Corinthian), Mel Torme (Verve), Sarah Vaughan (Pablo), Joe Williams (Blue Note)
JUST SQUEEZE ME (BUT DON'T TEASE ME) (DE/Lee Gaines)
Louis Armstrong with Duke Ellington (Roulette), Chris Connor (Atlantic), Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington (Verve), The Four Aces (Decca), Lena Horne (32 Jazz), Joni James (DRG), The King Sisters (Hindsight), Peggy Lee (Capitol), Gloria Lynne (Evidence), Lou Rawls (Capitol), Betty Roche (Original Jazz Classics), Jo Stafford (Corinthian), Paul Weston w/Matt Dennis (Capitol)
MOOD INDIGO (DE/Barney Bigard/Irving Mills)
Ivie Anderson (Jazz Archives), Patti Austin (Qwest/Warner Bros), The Boswell Sisters (Brunswick/Columbia), Dee Dee Bridgewater (Philips), Nat 'King' Cole (Capitol), Billy Eckstine (MGM), Ella Fitzgerald (Verve), The Four Freshmen (Capitol), Lena Horne (Blue Note), Rose Murphy (Audiophile), Charlie Rich (Warner Bros), Paul Robeson (Memoir), Nina Simone (Verve), Frank Sinatra (Capitol), Sarah Vaughan (Pablo)
PRELUDE TO A KISS (DE/Irving Gordon/Irving Mills)
Dee Dee Bridgwater (Philips), June Christy & Stan Kenton (Capitol/Blue Note), Vic Damone (Columbia), Billy Eckstine (Prism), Roberta Flack (Atlantic), Johnny Hodges w/Mary McHugh (Vocalion), Billie Holiday (Verve), Johnny Mathis (Columbia), Carmen McRae (Denon), Connie Russell (Liberty), Diane Schuur (GRP), Dinah Shore (Capitol), Carol Sloane (Audiophile), Sarah Vaughan (Pablo), Joe Williams (Collectables), Nancy Wilson (Capitol/Blue Note)
SOLITUDE (DE//Eddie DeLange/Irving Mills)
Ernestine Anderson (Concord Jazz), Louis Armstrong (Decca), Louis Armstrong w/Duke Ellington (Roulette), Alice Babs (Prophone), Tony Bennett (Columbia), The Ray Conniff Singers (Columbia), Ella Fitzgerald & Joe Pass (Pablo), Billie Holiday (Decca & Verve), Helen Humes (Original Jazz Classics), Eartha Kitt (DRG), Johnny Mathis (Columbia), The Mills Brothers (Ranwood), Dakota Staton (Capitol), Sarah Vaughan (Roulette)
SOPHITICATED LADY (DE/Mitchell Parish/Irving Mills)
Louis Armstrong (Sony), Fred Astaire (DRG), The Boswell Sisters (Columbia), Rosemary Clooney with Duke Ellington (Columbia), Natalie Cole (Capitol), Billy Eckstine (Verve), Fred Astaire (DRG), Jonathan & Darlene Edwards (Corinthian), Billie Holiday (Verve), Cleo Laine (RCA), Lou Rawls (Philly Int'l), Linda Ronstadt (Asylum), Diane Schuur (GRP), Mel Torme (DCC), Sarah Vaughan (Pablo), Nancy Wilson (Capitol)
The above are just a brief selection of the Duke Ellington compositions in our catalog.
Biography courtesy of Alan Warner |
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| Caravan |
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| I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart |
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| In A Sentimental Mood |
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| It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) |
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| Mood Indigo |
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| Prelude To A Kiss |
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| Solitude |
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| Sophisticated Lady |
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