DUKE ELLINGTON

Duke Ellington Orch. 

featuring Johnny Hodges

Great Paris Concerts
1963

This set came about, in part, as a result of Ellington's signing to Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in November 1962, with the ending of his exclusive contract to Columbia. Six numbers from the three Paris dates were initially edited and released by Reprise as part of the ten-song Duke Ellington's Greatest, but the bulk of the performances from those shows didn't surface until many years later as The Great Paris Concert on two LPs. The Great Paris Concert is raw and largely unedited, and depicts the full Ellington band in extraordinary form, oozing excitement -- from the saxophone showcase on opener "Rockin' in Rhythm," the various sections of the band take flight at different points throughout this set, which includes such contemporary numbers as Ellington's theme music for an all but forgotten television series, The Asphalt Jungle, and excerpts from Such Sweet Thunder. Johnny Hodges is showcased in several solos, most notably on "Suite Thursday," a work whose original studio incarnation he missed appearing on. Cootie Williams ("Tutti for Cootie"), Paul Gonsalves ("Cop Out"), Ray Nance ("Bula"), and Cat Anderson ("Jam with Sam") get their own moments in the spotlight.

Ernie Shepard

Bass

Harry Carney

Clarinet, Composer, Guest Artist, Sax (Baritone)

Jimmy Hamilton

Clarinet, Composer, Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor)

Russell Procope

Clarinet, Sax (Alto)

Duke Ellington

Composer, Piano, Primary Artist

Ray Nance

Cornet, Guest Artist, Violin

Sam Woodyard

Drums

Ilhan Mimaroglu

Editing, Production Coordination, Reissue Producer, Sequencing

Johnny Hodges

Guest Artist, Sax (Alto)

Paul Gonsalves

Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor)

Lawrence Brown

Guest Artist, Trombone

Cat Anderson

Guest Artist, Trumpet

Milt Grayson

Guest Artist, Vocals

Chuck Connors

Trombone

Buster Cooper

Trombone

Roy Burrowes

Trumpet

Cootie Williams

Trumpet