Duke Ellington, Vol.11
"Time's A-Wastin'": Original Recordings 1945-1946

 

Jazz historians generally think of Duke Ellington's orchestra of 1940-42 as being his finest. During that period, Ellington and his close associate Billy Strayhorn wrote gem after gem that perfectly framed the many unique members of the Ellington big band. However, as this collection shows, 1940-42 was only one of the band's peak periods, for it was on the same high level during 1945-46, even as the swing era was coming to an end.

By mid-1945 when this set begins, Edward Kennedy Ellington was universally considered a musical genius. Dozens of his songs were standards not only in jazz but in the pop music world. His arrangements made their own rules and featured unusual-sounding ensembles that on occasion had trombones voiced higher than trumpets and baritonist Harry Carney playing the high note among the saxophonists. Somehow Ellington and Strayhorn were able to mix tog