The Duke plays himself

[Russell Letson]

Via the Mosaic Records newsletter--Duke Ellington at a DC radio station in 1946, noodling a bit after a concert. A decade later, I heard similar playing on the "The Duke Plays Ellington" LP (AKA "Piano Reflections"), recorded in 1953, also partly improvised. It had a lot to do with how I hear jazz to this day and led me to Thelonious Monk, which taught me to listen even harder.

A blogsite comment points out that Billy Strayhorn joins Duke for some four-hands playing as well.

ehsankhoshbakht.blogspot.com/2020/04/duke-ellingtons-solo-piano-at-wwdc-1946.html

[howard lee]

When I saw the subject line of this thread, I thought you meant this Duke:

[coachdoc]

And don't forget this Brooklyn Duke.