January 1946

At this 1946 edition of the Duke's historic 1940's concert series, the emphasis was on expansiveness, with selections from the previously-presented Black, Brown and Beige; a brand new "tonal group"; and a reshaping of one of his earliest longer works, the 1930's pairing of Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue. Recorded in concert at Carnegie Hall, New York City, on January 4, 1946 Issued by arrangement with Mercer Records and Mercer Ellington. Reprocessed, from original source material, by Jerry Valburn and Jack Towers. Mastered, 1977, by David Turner (Fantasy Studios, Berkeley) (NOTE: The total length of this concert has made it impossible to include in this two-record set every selection performed on this occasion. The omissions were necessarily arbitrarily decided on, and there was no simple system used. My tendency was to do without vocal and pop-song numbers and some very-frequently recorded Ellington standards, and to retain pieces rarely or never to be heard elsewhere - even if the performance was less than perfect. - Orrin Keepnews)