The Ellington Sweepstakes, brought to you by Port Halcyon and Sony Music, has now closed.
Congratulations to all of our winners!
Granp Prize Winner:
Gregory Hill
Reading, PA
Runners-Up:
Christopher KollererRichard Titanic
Honolulu, HI
Michelle Fosnaugh
Phoenix, AZ
Al Ibarguen
Wilton, ME
Thanks to everyone who entered our contest. We invite all Ellington fans to check out the selection in our online store, and to check back for more exciting contests!
One (1) Grand Prize winner will receive a 5 CD comprehensive audio celebration of the Duke featuring his legendary recordings from the late 50s to early 60s jazz era, including the The Duke: Essential Collection 1927-1962. This collection includes 3 CDs featuring his very first recording in 1927, "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" and follows with hit after swingin' hit.
Four (4) Runner up prize winners will receive a 4 CD collection of Duke Ellington featuring newly remastered and re-issued Piano in the Foreground, Piano in the Background, Blues in Orbit and the newly released Jazz Moods: Hot - Duke Ellington.
>> Visit the Duke Ellington website.
>> Sweepstakes rules.
PRIZES:
Piano In The Foreground
On Piano In The Foreground, the Maestro's singular touch and and graceful solos are center stage for a program of sublime originals, one dream-like piece by longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn, plus four of the most perdurable and pleasurable entries in the Great American Songbook. Given exemplary support on the bulk of this set by Aaron Bell and Sam Woodyard, the orchestra's bass-drums tandem at the time of the 1961 recordings herein, this newly remastered collection has been expanded to eighteen selections, with eight bonus tracks coming from two 1957 dates.
1. I Can't Get Started
2. Cong-Go
3. Body And Soul
4. Blues For Jerry
5. Fontainebleau Forest
6. Summertime
7. It's Bad To Be Forgotten
8. A Hundred Dreams Ago
9. So
10. Searching (Pleading For Love)
11. Springtime In Africa
12. Lotus Blossom
13. All The Things You Are
14. All The Things You Are
15. Piano Improvisation No. 2
16. Piano Improvisation No. 3
17. Piano Improvisation No. 4
18. Piano Improvisation No. 1
>> Can't wait? Buy it now!
Piano In The Background
The companion piece to Piano In the Foreground, the 1961 trio session recorded about a year after this collection, Piano In the Background is more than a bit of a misnomer, since Duke Ellington (1899-1975) is featured at the outset of all fourteen selections herein. Moreover, the Maestro establishes this set's mostly ebullient mood on a special piano, one with ninety-one keys instead of the customary eighty-eight. The disc's first nine numbers, which made up the original LP, include some of the best known items in Ellington's voluminous songbook, but here, thanks to sterling new arrangements and impeccable engineering, they've never sounded more vibrant.
1. Happy Go Lucky Local
2. What Am I Here For
3. Kinda Dukish/Rockin' In Rhythm
4. Perdido
5. I'm Beginning To See The Light
6. Mid-Riff
7. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
8. Main Stem
9. Take The "A" Train
10. Lullaby Of Birdland
11. The Wailer
12. Dreamy Sort Of Thing
13. Lullaby Of Birdland
14. Harlem Air Shaft
>> Can't wait? Buy it now!
Blues In Orbit
Recorded in February 1958 and, mostly, in December 1959 at two consecutive post-midnight sessions that took place not long after the Maestro et. al. had returned from a European tour, these performances are tight yet deep, and packed with personality-rich solo turns. Ducal staples like "C Jam Blues" and "In a Mellow Tone" share the spotlight with freshly-minted items like the title track (reflecting Ellington's interest in space travel), "Blues in Blueprint," and the Ellington-Billy Strayhorn collaboration "Smada," on which the latter plays piano. Now containing eight bonus tracks, including a previously unissued alternate take the title cut, the newly remastered Blues In Orbit soars as never before.
1. Three J's Blues
2. Smada
3. Pie Eye's Blues
4. Sweet & Pungent
5. C Jam Blues
6. In A Mellow Tone
7. Blues In Blueprint
8. The Swingers Get The Blues, Too
9. The Swinger's Jump
10. Blues In Orbit
11. Villes Ville Is The Place, Man
12. Track 360
13. Sentimental Lady
14. Brown Penny
15. Pie Eye's Blues
16. Sweet & Pungent
17. The Swinger's Jump
18. Blues In Orbit
19. Track 360
>> Can't wait? Buy it now!
Jazz Moods | Hot
1. Hot And Bothered
2. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
3. Cotton Tail
4. The Mooche
5. Battle Of Swing
6. Rockin' In Rhythm
7. Braggin' In Brass
8. Caravan
9. Ring Dem Bells
10. Merry-Go-Round
11. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
12. In A Jam
13. Take The "A" Train
14. Tootin' Through The Roof
>> Can't wait? Buy it now!
The Duke: Essential Collection (1927-1962)
This beautiful 3-CD boxed set will feature all of The Duke's masterworks and hits, beginning with his very first recording in 1927, "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo."
The set encompasses Ellington's three great periods with the company, including his work for Columbia, OKeh, and the various ARC (American Record Company) labels.
DISC 1 (1927 - 1940)
1. Hot And Bothered
2. East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
3. Black And Tan Fantasy
4. Black Beauty
5. Ring Dem Bells
6. The Mooche
7. It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
8. Slippery Horn
9. Saddest Tale
10. Showboat Shuffle
11. In A Sentimental Mood
12. In A Jam
13. Caravan
14. The Gal From Joe's
15. Braggin' In Brass
16. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
17. Battle Of Swing
18. Prelude To A Kiss
19. Slap Happy
20. Old King Dooji
21. Portrait Of The Lion
22. Country Gal
23. Little Posey
24. Tootin' Through the Roof
25. Sophisticated Lady
DISC 2 (1947 - 1952)
1. Hy'a Sue
2. Lady Of The Lavender Mist
3. Antidisestablishmentarianismist
4. Golden Cress
5. Sultry Serenade
6. Maybe I Should Change My Ways
7. Stomp, Look And Listen
8. On A Turquoise Cloud
9. Three Cent Stomp
10. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
11. Progressive Gavotte
12. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
13. I Like The Sunrise
14. Snibor
15. Creole Love Call
16. The Tattooed Bride ra | wav
17. Brown Betty
18. Primpin' For The Prom
19. Monologue (Pretty And The Wolf)
20. Take The 'A' Train
DISC 3 (1956 - 1962)
1. Jeep's Blues
2. Solitude
3. Blue Rose
4. The Star-Crossed Lovers
5. Mood Indigo
6. Dancers In Love
7. Come Sunday
8. Satin Doll
9. Flirtibird
10. Perdido
11. C Jam Blues
12. Things Ain't What They Used To Be
13. Happy Go Lucky Local
14. Something To Live For
15. Creole Blues (excerpt from "Creole Rhapsody")
16. Dance Of The Floreadores (Waltz Of The Flowers)
17. Lotus Blossom
18. A Midnight In Paris
19. Asphalt Jungle Theme
20. Battle Royal
21. Duke Loves You Madly (spoken)
>> Can't wait? Buy it now!
Sweepstakes prizes courtesy of Legacy Recordings.
