Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington treated his orchestra as his instrument, writing for the particular sound of each player in it: Johnny Hodges' liquid alto, Bubber Miley's growling trumpet, Harry Carney's baritone sax. From the Cotton Club in the late 1920s onwards, that approach produced 'Mood Indigo' and 'It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)', while Billy Strayhorn's 'Take the "A" Train' became the band's theme.

His 1956 Newport set, with Paul Gonsalves' marathon tenor solo, revived his career. Blues in Orbit is loose, late-night blues, and 1962 brought two very different summit meetings: Money Jungle, with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, is spiky and combative, while Duke Ellington & John Coltrane is relaxed and lyrical, opening with a celebrated 'In a Sentimental Mood'.