Duke Ellington

2LP ON 2 CD SET

INCLUDES 15 BONUS TRACKS

The complete Duke Ellington/Johnny Hodges small group albums "Back to Back" (Verve MGV-8317) and Side by Side (Verve 8345). The first is fully dedicated to the blues form and, in addition to Duke’s own playing, showcases his veteran sideman Johnny Hodges. Side by Side was a continuation of Back to Back in that it presented the extant tunes from those sessions, plus another small group date featuring Hodges with Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Lawrence Brown and Billy Strayhorn.

As a bonus, nine bonus tracks from Ellington’s sessions recorded during the same period, all of which prominently feature both Hodges and the blues (rounding out Back to Back), as well as six tracks from Hodges’ following session after the one with Ben Webster from Side by Side, which presents a very similar personnel and format and rounds out the second CD.

PERSONNEL:

CD 1 [1-7]: BACK TO BACK

DUKE ELLINGTON, piano
JOHNNY HODGES, alto sax
HARRY “SWEETS” EDISON, trumpet
LES SPANN, guitar
SAM JONES or AL HALL, bass
JO JONES, drums.

New York, February 20 & 26, 1959.

CD 2 [1-9]: SIDE BY SIDE

On 1-2 & 4:
DUKE ELLINGTON, piano
JOHNNY HODGES, alto sax
HARRY “SWEETS” EDISON, trumpet
LES SPANN, guitar
AL HALL, bass
JO JONES, drums.

New York, February 26, 1959.

On 3 & 5-9:
JOHNNY HODGES, alto sax
BEN WEBSTER, tenor sax
ROY ELDRIDGE, trumpet
LAWRENCE BROWN, trombone
BILLY STRAYHORN, piano
WENDELL MARSHALL, bass
JO JONES, drums. New York, August 14, 1958.

BONUS TRACKS:

CD 1 [8]: Ray Nance (tp), Johnny Hodges (as), Quentin Jackson, Britt Woodman,
John Sanders (tb),
Harry Carney (bs), Duke Ellington (p), Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard (d).
New York, February 25, 1959.

CD 1 [9-16]: Ray Nance (tp, vln), Johnny Hodges (as), Britt Woodman, Booty Wood,
Matthew Gee (tb),
Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Russell Procope (cl, as), Paul Gonsalves (ts),
Harry Carney (bar, b-cl, cl),Duke Ellington or Billy Strayhorn (p), Jimmy Woode (b), Jimmy Johnson (d).
New York, December 2-3, 1959.

CD 2 [10-15]: Johnny Hodges (as), Roy Eldridge (tp, flhr), Ray Nance (tp), Lawrence Brown (tb),
Ben Webster (ts), Jimmy Hamilton (cl), Billy Strayhorn (p), Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard (d).
New York, September 10, 1958.

IMCLUDES 20-PAGE BOOKLET

CD 1: TOTAL TIME: 78:53

01 A NIG01 WABASH BLUES
02 BASIN STREET BLUES
03 BEALE STREET BLUES
04 WEARY BLUES
05 ST. LOUIS BLUES
06 LOVELESS LOVE
07 ROYAL GARDEN BLUE
08 VILLES VILLE IS THE PLACE, MAN
09 BROWN PENNY
10 SENTIMENTAL LADY [AKA I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT YOU]
11 SMADA
12 THE SWINGER’S JUMP
13 THE SWINGERS GET THE BLUES, TOO
14 BLUES IN BLUEPRINT
15 THREE J’S BLUES
16 C JAM BLUES

CD 2: TOTAL TIME: 77:28

01 STOMPY JONES
02 SQUEEZE ME
03 BIG SHOE
04 GOING UP
05 JUST A MEMORY
06 LET’S FALL IN LOVE
07 RUINT
08 BEND ONE
09 YOU NEED TO ROCK
10 M.H.R.
11 THREE AND SIX
12 NOT SO DUKISH
13 CENTRAL PARK SWING
14 PREACHER BLUES
15 THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS