''Blues in Orbit'' is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.A Duke Ellington Panorama
accessed May 18, 2010 The original liner notes by

Teo Macero Attilio Joseph "Teo" Macero (October 30, 1925 – February 19, 2008) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer. He was a producer at Columbia Records for twenty years. Macero produced Miles Davis' ''Bitches Brew'', and Dave ...

described this album as primarily a blues album (as most of the track titles indicate). The album was re-released on CD in 2004 with bonus tracks including alternate takes and tracks from earlier sessions.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Bruce Eder stated: "''Blues in Orbit'' lacks the intellectual cachet of the suites and concept pieces that loomed large in Ellington's recordings of this period, but it's an album worth tracking down, if only to hear the band run through a lighter side of its sound. Indeed, it captures the essence of a late-night recording date that was as much a loose jam as a formal studio date, balancing the spontaneity of the former and the technical polish of the latter".Nastos, M. G.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed May 17, 2010

Track listing

'':All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated'' # "Three J's Blues" (

Jimmy Hamilton Jimmy Hamilton (May 25, 1917 – September 20, 1994) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Biography Hamilton was born in Dillon, South Carolina, United States, and grew up in Phi ...

) - 2:54 # "Smada" (Ellington,

Billy Strayhorn William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take ...

) - 2:38 # "Pie Eye's Blues" - 3:27 # "Sweet and Pungent" (Strayhorn) - 4:03 # "

C Jam Blues "C Jam Blues" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington and performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, and Charles Mingus. Background As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelv ...

" (Ellington,

Barney Bigard Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone. Biography Bigard was born in New Orleans to Creole parents, Ale ...

) - 4:52 # "

In a Mellow Tone "In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler. The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams, which Ellington himse ...

" (Ellington,

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to sel ...

) - 2:43 # "Blues in Blueprint" - 3:43 # "The Swingers Get the Blues, Too" (Ellington,

Matthew Gee Matthew Gee (November 25, 1925 in Houston, Texas – July 18, 1979 in New York City) was an American bebop trombonist and part-time actor. Gee played trumpet and baritone as a child, and took up the trombone at age 11. After studying at Alabama S ...

) - 3:09 # "The Swinger's Jump" - 3:53 # "Blues in Orbit" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 2:29 # "Villes Ville Is the Place, Man" - 2:33 # "Track 360" - 2:03 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Sentimental Lady" - 4:02 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Brown Penny" (Ellington, John La Touche) - 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Pie Eye's Blues" lternate take- 3:32 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Sweet and Pungent" lternate take(Strayhorn) - 3:52 Bonus track on CD reissue # "The Swinger's Jump" lternate take(Ellington) - 3:51 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Blues in Orbit" lternate take(Strayhorn) - 2:39 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Track 360" lternate take- 2:01 Bonus track on CD reissue :*Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles on February 4, 1958 (tracks 12 & 19) and February 12, 1958 (tracks 10 & 18) and at

Columbia 30th Street Studio CBS 30th Street Studio, also known as Columbia 30th Street Studio, and nicknamed "The Church", was an American recording studio operated by Columbia Records from 1948 to 1981 located at 207 East 30th Street, between Second and Third Avenues in Manha ...

, New York on February 25, 1959 (track 11), December 2, 1959 (tracks 1, 3-5 & 13-16) and December 3, 1959 (tracks 2, 6-9 & 17).

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(tracks 1, 3-6 & 8-19) *

- piano (tracks 2 & 7) *

Ray Nance Ray Willis Nance (December 10, 1913 – January 28, 1976) was an American jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer. He is best remembered for his long association with Duke Ellington and his orchestra. Early years Nance was the leader of his ow ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Cat Anderson William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range, especially his ability to play in the altissimo ...

Shorty Baker Harold "Shorty" Baker (May 26, 1914 in St. Louis, Missouri, US – November 8, 1966) was an American jazz trumpeter. Baker began on drums, but switched to trumpet during his teens. He started his career on riverboats and played with Don Redman in ...

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duke ...

- trumpet (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19) * Fats Ford - trumpet (track 11) *

Britt Woodman Britt Woodman (June 4, 1920 – October 13, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Woodman was a childhood friend of Charles Mingus, but first worked with Phil Moore and Les Hite. After service in World War II he played with Boyd Rae ...

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

Booty Wood Mitchell W. Wood, better known as Booty Wood (December 27, 1919 – June 10, 1987) was an American jazz trombonist. Career Wood played professionally on trombone from the late 1930s. He worked with Tiny Bradshaw and Lionel Hampton in the 1940s ...

- trombone (tracks 1-9 & 13-17) *

Quentin Jackson Quentin "Butter" Jackson

- trombone (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19) * John Sanders -

valve trombone A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

(tracks 10-12, 18 & 19) *

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Johnny Hodges Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

(tracks 1-9, 11 & 13-17) *

Russell Procope Russell Keith Procope (August 11, 1908 – January 21, 1981) was an American clarinetist and alto saxophonist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Before Ellington Procope was born in New York City, United States, and grew up in S ...

- alto saxophone, clarinet *

Paul Gonsalves Paul Gonsalves ( – ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist best known for his association with Duke Ellington. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, Gonsalves played a 27-chorus solo in the middle of Ellington's "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue ...

Harry Carney Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 – October 8, 1974) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments but primarily used the baritone saxopho ...

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

Jimmy Woode James Bryant Woode (September 23, 1926 – April 23, 2005) was an American jazz bassist. He played and/or recorded in bands with Flip Phillips, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Nat Pierce, Sidney Be ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

*Jimmy Johnson -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(tracks 1-9 & 13-17) *

Sam Woodyard Sam Woodyard (January 7, 1925 – September 20, 1988) was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States. Woodyard was largely an autodidact on drums and played locally in the Newark, New Jersey area in the 1940s. ...

- drums (tracks 10-12, 18 & 19)

References

{{Authority control Columbia Records albums Duke Ellington albums 1960 albums Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio