Duke Ellington

***** DOWN BEAT (1957) "A Drum Is a Woman is the most ambitious project attempted by Duke Ellington in years. It is a capsule history of the Negro in America, it is a history of the Ellington orchestra, and it is a folk opera that simply cries for decent stage presentation. But for more than any of these, it is a revealing self-portrait of Duke Ellington." Jack Tracy

PART 1:
01 A DRUM IS A WOMAN 3:36
02 RHYTHM PUM TE DUM 2:53
03 WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO WITH
A DRUM 1:50
PART 2:
04 NEW ORLEANS 2:29
05 HEY, BUDDY BOLDEN 4:51
06 CARRIBEE JOE 3:57
07 CONGO SQUARE 4:55
PART 3:
08 A DRUM IS A WOMAN (PART 2) 2:47
09 YOU BETTER KNOW IT 2:45
10 MADAM ZAJJ 2:47
11 BALLET OF THE FLYING SAUCERS 5:33
PART 4:
12 ZAJJ'S DREAM 3:02
13 RHUMBOP 2:16
14 CARRIBEE JOE (PART 2) 3:05
15 FINALE 0:43
16 POMEGRANATE 2:46 (Bonus track)
TOTAL TIME: 50:26

Music, lyrics and arrangements by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: Clark Terry, Willie Cook, Cat Anderson (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vln, vcl), Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman, John Sanders (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (as, cl), Johnny Hodges, Rick Henderson (as), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bar, cl, b-cl), Duke Ellington (p, narr), Betty Glamann (harp), Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard, Terry Snyder (d), Candido Camero (bgo), Margaret Tynes, Joya Sherrill, Ozzie Bailey (vcl).
New York, September 17-28, October 22-23 & December 6, 1956.
"Pomegranate" recorded on March 7, 1957.