Ellington at Newport
| Ellington at Newport | ||||
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| Live album by Duke Ellington | ||||
| Released | 1956 | |||
| Recorded | July 7, 1956 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 1956 LP: 43:53 1999 CD: 2:09:57 |
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| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | 1956 LP: George Avakian 1999 CD: Phil Schaap |
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| Duke Ellington chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | |
Ellington at Newport is a 1956 live jazz album by Duke Ellington and his band of their 1956 concert at the Newport Jazz Festival, a concert which revitalized Ellington's flagging career. Jazz promoter George Wein describes the 1956 concert as "the greatest performance of [Ellington's] career... It stood for everything that jazz had been and could be.". It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which ranks it "one of the most famous... in jazz history". The original release partly recreated in the studio the Ellington Orchestra's festival appearance.
Many big bands had folded by the mid-1950s, but Duke kept his band working, occasionally doing shows in ice-skating rinks to stay busy. The Duke Ellington Orchestra had done some European tours during the early 1950s, and Duke was chiefly supporting the band himself through royalties earned on his popular compositions of the 1920s to 1940s. At the time of the festival, the band did not even have a record deal.
Duke and his orchestra arrived to play at the Newport Jazz Festival at a time when jazz festivals were a fairly new innovation. Ellington's band was the first and last group to play at the Newport Festival. The first, short set began at 8:30 and included "The Star Spangled Banner", "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Tea for Two". This set was played without a few of the band's members as they were unable to be found at the start of the show.
After performances by the other groups, the remainder of the band was located and the real performance began. Duke led off with "Take the 'A' Train", followed by a new composition by Duke and Billy Strayhorn, a suite of three pieces: "Festival Junction", "Blues to Be There", and "Newport Up". This suite was intended to be the showstopper, but the reception was not as enthusiastic as was hoped.
Following the Festival suite, Duke called for Harry Carney's baritone saxophone performance of "Sophisticated Lady". Then the orchestra played "Day In, Day Out". Following this, Duke announced that they were pulling out "some of our 1938 vintage": "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" joined by an improvised interval, which Duke announced would be played by tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves.
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Wikipedia