Duke Ellington - Ellington Uptown / Liberian Suite / Masterpieces By Ellington / 2CD set

This release compiles, for the first time ever on a single set, all existing material from the sessions that produced the classic Duke Ellington albums Ellington Uptown, The Liberian Suite, and Masterpieces by Ellington. Ellington Uptown was originally issued in two different versions, the first one containing “The Harlem Suite”, and the second one replacing it with “The Controversial Suite”. To add to the confusion, “The Liberian Suite”, first issued on a 10” LP, was later presented on a 12” album coupled with “The Harlem Suite”.

All of these materials are include here, plus a song (“Come on Home”) that completes the Ellington Uptown sessions, and four rare alternate takes from the “Liberian Suite” taped during the same session as the masters. To round out this set, CD2 also presents Ellington’s earliest version of “The Tattooed Bride”, taped live at Carnegie Hall in 1948, which is very interesting to compare with the one on Masterpieces by Ellington.

personnel: Cat Anderson, Clark Terry, Willie Cook (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vcl), Lawrence Brown, Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, Juan Tizol (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (as, cl), Willie Smith (as), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bar, cl,b-cl), Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Louie Bellson, Sonny Greer (d), among others.

Recorded in New York, between 1947 & 1952.