This BMG reissue contains 19
Duke Ellington
recordings from 1940-42 and 1945-46 and serves as a good introduction to
Ellington's
music of that era although veteran collectors will already have the material. Among the gems are the original version of "Take the 'A' Train," "I Got It Bad," "Perdido," "Caravan," a rendition of "It Don't Mean a Thing" that uses the voices of
Joya Sherrill
,
Kay Davis
and
Marie Ellington
and "St. Louis Blues." ~ Scott Yanow