Blues in Orbit

Blues in Orbit is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.[3]

This article is about the album by Duke Ellington. For the Gil Evans album, see Blues in Orbit (Gil Evans album).
Blues in Orbit
Studio album by
Duke Ellington
Released1960
RecordedFebruary 4 & 12, 1958, February 25, December 2 & 3, 1959
GenreJazz
LabelColumbia
Duke Ellington chronology
Festival Session
(1959)		 Blues in Orbit
(1960)		 The Nutcracker Suite
(1960)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[1]
Tom HullA[2]

The original liner notes by Teo Macero 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 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".[4]

Track listing

:All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated

  1. "Three J's Blues" (Jimmy Hamilton) - 2:54
  2. "Smada" (Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) - 2:38
  3. "Pie Eye's Blues" - 3:27
  4. "Sweet and Pungent" (Strayhorn) - 4:03
  5. "C Jam Blues" (Ellington, Barney Bigard) - 4:52
  6. "In a Mellow Tone" (Ellington, Milt Gabler) - 2:43
  7. "Blues in Blueprint" - 3:43
  8. "The Swingers Get the Blues, Too" (Ellington, Matthew Gee) - 3:09
  9. "The Swinger's Jump" - 3:53
  10. "Blues in Orbit" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 2:29
  11. "Villes Ville Is the Place, Man" - 2:33
  12. "Track 360" - 2:03 Bonus track on CD reissue
  13. "Sentimental Lady" - 4:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
  14. "Brown Penny" (Ellington, John La Touche) - 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
  15. "Pie Eye's Blues" [alternate take] - 3:32 Bonus track on CD reissue
  16. "Sweet and Pungent" [alternate take] (Strayhorn) - 3:52 Bonus track on CD reissue
  17. "The Swinger's Jump" [alternate take] (Ellington) - 3:51 Bonus track on CD reissue
  18. "Blues in Orbit" [alternate take] (Strayhorn) - 2:39 Bonus track on CD reissue
  19. "Track 360" [alternate 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, 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

References
  1. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 435. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  2. Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Essential Jazz Albums of the 1950s". tomhull.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  3. A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine accessed May 18, 2010
  4. Nastos, M. G. Allmusic Review accessed May 17, 2010
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