Ellington Uptown

by Duke Ellington

Ellington Uptown cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: March 1953
  • Label: Columbia, Columbia Masterworks
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 1:18:42
  • Community rating: 4.84/5 from 5 ratings

Artists on this release: Johnny Hodges, Shorty Baker, Hilton Jefferson, Juan Tizol, Junior Raglin, Russell Procope, Clark Terry, Ray Nance, Quentin Jackson, Paul Gonsalves, Tyree Glenn, Louis Bellson, Shelton Hemphill, Sonny Greer, Francis Williams, Al Sears, Willie Smith, Willie Cook, Al Hibbler, Harry Carney, Betty Roché, Wendell Marshall, Cat Anderson, Britt Woodman, Fred Guy, Oscar Pettiford, Claude Jones, Al Killian, Billy Strayhorn, Lawrence Brown, Jimmy Hamilton

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Released as a high-fidelity showcase for the then-new LP format, 'Ellington Uptown' captures Duke Ellington's 1951–52 orchestra in a program of ambitious, long-form works. The album is anchored by the composer's celebrated tone poem, "A Tone Parallel to Harlem," a nearly 14-minute suite that musically depicts the sights and sounds of the vibrant New York neighborhood. Alongside extended reworkings of classics like "Take the 'A' Train," the recording prominently features Louis Bellson's powerful drum showcase on "Skin Deep," cementing the album as a pivotal statement of Ellington's compositional scope and the orchestra's formidable power.

Genres

Descriptors: complex

Tracklist

  1. Skin Deep (6:50)
  2. The Mooche (6:37)
  3. Take the 'A' Train (8:01)
  4. A Tone Parallel to Harlem (The Harlem Suite) - 78rpm Version (13:47)
  5. Perdido (8:23)
  6. Before My Time (6:08)
  7. Later (4:13)
  8. I Like the Sunrise (4:28)
  9. Dance No. 1 (4:50)
  10. Dance No. 2 (3:26)
  11. Dance No. 3 (3:45)
  12. Dance No. 4 (3:05)
  13. Dance No. 5 (5:08)

Credits

More from Duke Ellington: full discography