Duke Ellington makes a rare Verve appearance on this classic album – and works strongly in the mode of earlier sides recorded for the label by Johnny Hodges! There's a relaxed, small group feel going on here – one that's a bit different than some of the tighter Ellington work on Columbia during the 50s, and which almost paves the way for some of the more intimate piano sides that Duke would record during the 60s. In a way, Hodges is almost at the lead – given how comfortable he is here in a Verve setting – and other players include Harry Edison on trumpet, Les Spann on guitar, Sam Jones on bass, and Jo Jones on drums. The real charm, as always, is Hodges' solos, lean, mean, raspy, and soulful – and titles include "Weary Blues", "Royal Garden Blues", "Loveless Love", "St Louis Blues", and "Wabash Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

The album's a bit less "historical" than you might guess from the title – at least at the time it was issued in the mid 50s! The material is from Chicago sessions recorded in 1956 – unusual non-Columbia material for the period, featuring the Ellington group working in a slightly older-styled mode. Much of the material is from the earlier songbook of the orchestra – but it's done here with some slight modern touches that show the 50s impulses of the group firmly in place. Players include Cat Anderson and Clark Terry on trumpet, Johnny Hodges on alto, Paul Gonsalves on tenor, and Harry Carney on baritone sax – and titles include "Midriff", "Ko Ko", "Lonesome Lullaby", "Upper Manhattan Medical Group", "Jack The Bear", "Stompy Jones", and "Creole Love Call". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary meeting of two classic jazz talents late in their careers – in a setting that's ideal to bring out all the complexity of their well-honed genius! The approach of the album is mostly an Ellington one – as the group features some of Duke's stalwarts, like Ray Nance on trumpet, Johnny Hodges on alto, and Lawrence Brown on trombone – but Coleman Hawkins gets plenty of space as the main soloist on each number on tenor, alongside Duke, who also solos strongly on piano – both of them with those subtle modern elements that showed up wonderfully in their later work. As with most later records by the players, the writing is great – with a lot more dark moments than you'd expect – and titles include "The Rictic", "You Dirty Dog", "Limbo Jazz", "Wanderlust", and "Self Portrait Of The Bean". LP, Vinyl record album