{"title":"Duke Ellington","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"187\" data-end=\"804\"\u003eDuke Ellington was one of the most important figures in 20th-century music, a composer, bandleader and pianist whose influence stretched far beyond jazz. Leading his orchestra for over 50 years, Ellington created a vast catalogue of timeless recordings that blended sophistication, swing and innovation. From classics like \u003cem data-start=\"510\" data-end=\"532\"\u003eEllington at Newport\u003c\/em\u003e to countless studio masterpieces, his vinyl legacy is essential for collectors seeking the roots and refinement of modern jazz. Explore our curated selection of Duke Ellington records — rare pressings, essential reissues and big-band treasures that showcase his genius.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"duke-ellington-and-johnny-hodges-side-by-side-1971-japanese-verve-gatefold-lp","title":"Duke Ellington And Johnny Hodges - Side By Side (1971 Japanese Verve Gatefold LP)","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"1214\" data-start=\"1061\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: EX\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: EX\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e None\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOur grading system explained \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuke Ellington And Johnny Hodges - \u003cem\u003eSide By Side\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eVinyl LP - 1971 Japanese Verve Gatefold Reissue\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reunion of Duke Ellington with his longtime alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges resulted in this intimate session showcasing both musicians' enduring artistry. Originally recorded for Verve and reissued in Japan in 1971 by Polydor K.K. in gatefold format, \u003cem\u003eSide By Side\u003c\/em\u003e features nine tracks blending Ellington originals with standards, the duo's decades-long musical partnership evident in their intuitive interaction. Hodges' warm, singing alto saxophone tone—one of the most distinctive and influential sounds in jazz history—finds perfect complement in Ellington's elegant piano work, their collaboration demonstrating that even masters can achieve new insights through familiar partnership.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHodges spent most of his career in Ellington's orchestra (1928-1970, with a five-year absence 1951-1955), his alto saxophone becoming an essential voice in the Ellington sound. This smaller group setting allows both musicians' individual voices to shine while maintaining the rapport built over decades of collaboration. Tracks like \"Stompy Jones\" showcase swinging, uptempo material, while ballads like \"Just A Memory\" and \"Let's Fall In Love\" demonstrate Hodges' legendary ability to make his horn sing with human expressiveness. Ellington's piano work provides both rhythmic support and melodic counterpoint, his harmonic sophistication evident throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Verve Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43173802770491,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_5879.jpg?v=1769577024"},{"product_id":"duke-ellington-the-far-east-suite-1981-japanese-rca-stereo-lp","title":"Duke Ellington - The Far East Suite (1981 Japanese RCA Stereo LP)","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"1214\" data-start=\"1061\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: EX\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e: VG+\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOur grading system explained \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuke Ellington - \u003cem\u003eThe Far East Suite\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1981 Japanese RCA Stereo Reissue (RJL-2533, RVC Corporation)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1963 State Department tour took the Ellington orchestra through Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq and several other countries. Back in New York, Ellington and Strayhorn began assembling a suite in response. They worked on it for three years, adding pieces around a core of compositions Strayhorn had drafted while abroad. By December 1966 they had nine pieces, recorded in three days.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBilly Strayhorn wrote \"Bluebird of Delhi\" as a tribute to a mynah bird that came to his hotel window daily in India and refused to answer when spoken to. According to Ellington, it only responded as the band was leaving, and the \"low raspberry\" at the end of the piece is Hamilton's clarinet mimicking that exit. \"Isfahan\" had existed under the title \"Elf\" since 1963. Ellington described the Iranian city as \"a city of poetic beauty,\" and the piece is the album's most celebrated track: Hodges on alto saxophone, playing with the long, slow phrasing that characterised his last years with the band. \"Agra\" is Strayhorn's piece for Harry Carney's baritone. \"Bluebird of Delhi,\" \"Isfahan\" and \"Agra\" are the three Strayhorn compositions. Ellington wrote the remaining six.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Ad Lib on Nippon\" closes the suite at nearly thirteen minutes. It is the most extended improvisation on the album, Ellington at the piano in long dialogue with the full orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the 1981 Japanese RCA stereo reissue (RJL-2533), manufactured by RVC Corporation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"RCA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43555870703675,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_7155.jpg?v=1780096658"},{"product_id":"duke-ellington-john-coltrane-duke-ellington-john-coltrane-1976-japanese-impulse-vinyl-lp-gatefold","title":"Duke Ellington \u0026 John Coltrane - Duke Ellington \u0026 John Coltrane (1976 Japanese Impulse! Vinyl LP Gatefold)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: EX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eVG+\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eVG+\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuke Ellington \u0026amp; John Coltrane - \u003cem\u003eDuke Ellington \u0026amp; John Coltrane\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP Gatefold - 1976 Japanese Impulse! Reissue (YS-8503-AI, Nippon Columbia)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere were no charts on the date. Bassist John Lamb, who was present at the session, recalled that Ellington and Coltrane sat together at the piano bench without talking. Ellington would hum something, Coltrane would listen, and after a few minutes they'd get up, walk to their positions, and start playing. The rhythm section had to figure out the key for themselves. What came out of six to eight hours at Van Gelder was seven tracks that sit closer to a Coltrane-plays-Ellington concept than a true collaboration. Ellington feeds chords, stays economical, and gives Coltrane room. \"In A Sentimental Mood,\" the 1935 standard, opens the album and remains its most celebrated moment. Coltrane plays the melody on tenor with a tenderness that's hard to reconcile with the ferocity of his Village Vanguard recordings from the year before. \"Take The Coltrane\" (Ellington's pun, Ellington's blues) shifts gears into uptempo hard bop with Garrison and Elvin Jones driving underneath. \"Big Nick,\" Coltrane's only composition here, is a tribute to tenor saxophonist Big Nick Nicholas, played on soprano with a playful, whimsical quality that catches Ellington in an unusually laid-back mode.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide B opens with Billy Strayhorn's \"My Little Brown Book,\" the piece several critics have called the album's true peak, with Coltrane playing the ballad over Bell and Woodyard's lighter swing feel. \"Angelica\" moves back to Garrison and Jones for another Ellington original, and \"The Feeling Of Jazz\" closes with the Ellington rhythm section in a relaxed, walking groove. The alternation between rhythm sections gives the album two distinct textures without disrupting its flow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the January 1976 Japanese reissue on YS-8503-AI, made by Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. as a limited edition of 20,000 copies in a gatefold sleeve. Note the label misprint on side one: \"Duke Kllington.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Impulse!","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43686159319099,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_7383_dfd8fb47-ed07-4913-bcee-c59347fe411e.jpg?v=1781918011"},{"product_id":"duke-ellington-charles-mingus-max-roach-money-jungle-1976-japanese-united-artists-vinyl-lp","title":"Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus \u0026 Max Roach - Money Jungle (1976 Japanese United Artists Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: VG+\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eEX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuke Ellington, Charles Mingus \u0026amp; Max Roach - \u003cem\u003eMoney Jungle\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1976 Japanese United Artists Reissue (GXC-3131, King Record Co. Ltd)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title track opens with Mingus doing something violent to his bass, scraping fingernails against the strings and snapping them until the instrument sounds more percussive than melodic. Ellington comes in with dissonant, clanging chords that sit nowhere near the elegant, orchestral piano he was known for. Roach drives underneath with an intensity that pushes both of them harder. This is not a polite session. During the afternoon of September 17, 1962, Mingus picked up his bass, put the cover on it and walked out of Sound Makers Studio. Accounts of what happened next differ. Producer Alan Douglas recalled looking out the window and seeing Ellington chasing Mingus up 57th Street. Ellington's own memoir says he stopped Mingus at the elevator. Either way, Mingus came back, and what the session produced is one of the most celebrated piano trio albums in jazz. \"Fleurette Africaine\" sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from the title track. It's quiet, spacious and atmospheric, with Ellington playing delicate, ringing chords while Mingus bows underneath and Roach uses brushes and mallets rather than sticks. \"Caravan,\" the Juan Tizol standard Ellington had been playing since 1936, gets rebuilt into something fiercer and less predictable than any big band arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEllington brought four new compositions to the session alongside three of his older pieces. \"Very Special\" is a medium-tempo blues. \"Warm Valley,\" originally a Johnny Hodges feature from 1940, is recast as a trio ballad. \"Solitude\" closes the album in a reflective, winding reading that runs past five minutes. The friction throughout the date is real, but what makes the album work is that all three musicians are too good and too stubborn to let the tension collapse the music. Mingus and Roach had both played in Charlie Parker's groups. Mingus had briefly been in Ellington's orchestra in the early 1950s before being fired after a backstage altercation. Both men idolised Ellington, and it's that mixture of reverence and creative resistance that gives the session its charge. Alan Douglas produced for United Artists, Bill Schwartau engineered, and George Wein (founder of the Newport Jazz Festival) wrote the liner notes. This is the 1976 Japanese reissue on GXC-3131 from the Jazz Library 1500 series, manufactured by King Record Co. Ltd with a light blue United Artists label.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"United Artists","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43686325715003,"sku":null,"price":55.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_7389.jpg?v=1781930896"},{"product_id":"duke-ellington-his-orchestra-feat-mahalia-jackson-black-brown-and-beige-1973-japanese-cbs-sony-vinyl-lp","title":"Duke Ellington \u0026 His Orchestra feat. Mahalia Jackson - Black, Brown And Beige (1973 Japanese CBS\/Sony Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eVinyl\u003c\/b\u003e: EX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSleeve\u003c\/b\u003e:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eVG+\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObi:\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur grading system explained \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/dpbg4u-d1.myshopify.com\/pages\/secondhand-grading-guide\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehere\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003cbr\u003ePhoto is of the actual item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDuke Ellington \u0026amp; His Orchestra feat. Mahalia Jackson - \u003cem\u003eBlack, Brown And Beige\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 1973 Japanese CBS\/Sony Reissue (SOPZ 17)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEllington premiered \u003cem\u003eBlack, Brown and Beige\u003c\/em\u003e at his first Carnegie Hall concert on January 23, 1943, billing it as \"a tone parallel to the history of the Negro in America.\" It ran 45 minutes and received mixed reviews. He never recorded the full suite in the studio. Fifteen years later, with Mahalia Jackson newly signed to Columbia Records, he returned to the material and revised it, stripping the suite down to six shorter sections built around \"Come Sunday,\" the hymn-like melody from the original \"Black\" movement. The result is closer to a sacred work than a jazz suite. Part II opens with Ray Nance's violin playing the theme unaccompanied before the orchestra enters underneath. Part III brings the full band into the \"Work Song\" melody with the horns building to a climax that rivals anything in Ellington's catalogue. Then Jackson enters on Part IV, singing \"Come Sunday\" with a directness and weight that turns the piece into something between a concert performance and a church service. Her voice against Nance's violin is one of the most striking textures Ellington ever put on record. Part VI, the \"23rd Psalm,\" closes the album with Jackson singing over the full orchestra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDown Beat\u003c\/em\u003e gave it five stars, with Dom Cerulli writing that Ellington and Jackson had created \"a gentle, reverent, powerful prayer\" and calling it \"an Ellington milestone.\" The orchestra on the sessions (recorded in February 1958 in Los Angeles) includes Clark Terry and Cat Anderson on trumpet, Britt Woodman and Quentin Jackson on trombone, Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Harry Carney on baritone. Ellington told an interviewer that Strayhorn, who was in Florida during the sessions, sent the arrangement for \"Come Sunday\" after being told the key. All six parts are Ellington compositions. This is the 1973 Japanese reissue on CBS\/Sony SOPZ 17, from the CBS Sony Jazz 1100 series.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CBS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43691282464827,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_7438.jpg?v=1782088272"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/duke-ellington.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}