……[M]y mother decided I should take piano lessons. My piano teacher, Mrs. Clinkscales (that was really her name), got paid several times a week for many weeks for these lessons, but I missed more than I took, because of my enthusiasm for playing ball, and running and racing through the street. That I remember very well, because when she had her piano recital with all her pupils in the church, I was the only one who could not play his part.
-Duke Ellington, Music Is My Mistress
Duke Ellington, Orson Welles and Cab Calloway
I was fortunate enough to see three of this podcast’s featured artists in concert and get their autographs:
Oscar Peterson (along with Ella Fitzgerald, Freddie Green, Al Grey, Bobby Plater and Tommy Flanagan)
McCoy Tyner
Earl “Fatha” Hines
The recordings heard on this podcast episode:
Take the “A” Train (LP: “The Greatest Jazz Concert In The World” Pablo 2625-704)
Recorded 1 July 1967 at The Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles
Oscar Peterson – piano; Cootie Williams, Cat Anderson, Herbie Jones, Mercer Ellington – trumpet; Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper, Chuck Connors – trombone, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope, Paul Gonsalves, Jimmy Hamilton, Harry Carney – reeds, John Lamb -bass; Chris Columbus – drums.
Soda Fountain Rag (CD: “Live at The Whitney” Impulse/GRP 173)
Recorded 10 April 1972, New York City
Duke Ellington – piano.
Soda Fountain Rag (CD: “Duke Ellington Piano Works” Dynamic CDS7743)
Recorded 2015, Italy
Luigi Polombi – piano.
Solitude (CD”Romance a la Mode” Jazzsential)
Recorded 16 September 1943, New York City
Fats Waller – organ, vocal.
Orson (LP: “Ellington Is Forever, Volume 2” Fantasy 79008 )
Recorded November & December, 1975, Berkeley, California
Jimmy Jones – piano
Black and Tan Fantasy (CD: “Thelonious Monk plays Duke Ellington” Universal
0546796)
Recorded 21 July 1955, Hackensack, New Jersey
Thelonious Monk – piano; Oscar Pettiford -bass; Kenny Clarke – drums.
In a Sentimental Mood (CD: “Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Volume 8” Pablo PACD-2405-439-2)
Recorded 29 December 1953, Los Angeles
Art Tatum – piano.
What Am I Here For? (CD: “The Missouri Connection” Reservoir (City Hall) 124)
Recorded 15 September 1992, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Jay McShann, John Hicks – piano.
Caravan (CD: “Ready Take One” Sony Music 88985363312)
Recorded 2 December 1971, New York City
Erroll Garner – piano; Ernest McCarty, Jr. – bass; Jose Mangual – conga; Jimmie Smith – drums.
Satin Doll (CD: “Jazz Royalty – Earl Hines plays Duke Ellington” New World Records
NW 81001)
Recorded 10 December 1971, New York City
Earl “Fatha” Hines – piano.
Satin Doll (CD: “Double Trios”, Denon Records 1128)
Recorded 7 June 1986, New York City
McCoy Tyner – piano; Avery Sharpe – bass; Louis Hayes – drums.
Pitter Panther Patter (CD: “Highlights of the Great 1940-1942 Band” Avid, AMSC1143)
Recorded 1 October 1940, Chicago
Duke Ellington – piano; Jimmie Blanton -bass.
Pitter Panther Patter (CD: “This One’s for Blanton” Pablo PACD-2310-721-2)
Recorded 5 December 1972, Las Vegas
Duke Ellington – piano; Ray Brown – bass.
It’s Something You Ought To Know (Paul Gonsalves – “Ellingtonia Moods and Blues,” RCA Victor / RCA63562)
Recorded 29 February 1960, New York City
Paul Gonsalves- tenor sax; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Ray Nance – cornet; Mitchell “Booty” Wood – trombone; Jimmy Jones – piano; Al Hall – bass; Oliver Jackson – drums.