“So I went out and wrote Creole Rhapsody, and I did so much music for it that we had to cut t up and do two versions. One came out on Brunswick and the other, longer one, on Victor. Irving [Mills] almost blew his connection at both companies for recording a number that was not only more than three minutes long, but took both sides of the record. That was the seed from which all kinds of extended works and suites later grew.”
Duke Ellington, Music is my Mistress
Bob “Ironside” Hunt’s Harlem playing “Creole Rhapsody” – (June 2022)
The Lansing State Journal, 22 August 1931
Illustrated Daily News [Los Angeles, CA], 19 January 1933
Record review of “Creole Rhapsody” from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, 6 June 1931
The recordings heard on this podcast episode:
Recorded 20 January 1931, New York City
Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, Freddie Jenkins – trumpet; Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol – trombone; Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Fred Guy – banjo; Wellman Braud – bass; Sonny Greer – drums.
Creole Rhapsody (Parts I & II) (CD: Early Ellington (1927 – 1934), Bluebird 6852-2-RB)
Recorded 11 June 1931, Camden, NJ
Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams, Freddie Jenkins – trumpet; Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol – trombone; Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Fred Guy – banjo; Wellman Braud – bass; Sonny Greer – drums.
Creole Blues (CD: “Duke Ellington: The Columbia Years 1927-1962” Columbia 5176872)
Recorded 14 July 1960, Los Angeles
Lawrence Brown – trombone; Duke Ellington – piano; Aaron Bell – bass.
Neo-Creole (from “Change of Mind”) (LP: “Up In Duke’s Workshop” Pablo 2310-815)
Recorded 20 June 1969, New York City
Cootie Williams, Willie Cook, Mercer Ellington, Harold “Money” Johnson – trumpet; Lawrence Brown, Benny Green, Chuck Connors – trombone; Norris Turney, Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges, Harold Ashby, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney – reeds; Duke Ellington – piano; Paul Kondziela, Victor Gaskin – bass; Rufus Jones – drums.
— Our closing music—-
It’s Something You Ought To Know (Paul Gonsalves – “Ellingtonia Moods and Blues,” RCA Victor / RCA63562)
Recorded 29 February 1960, New York City
Paul Gonsalves- tenor sax; Johnny Hodges – alto sax; Ray Nance – cornet; Mitchell “Booty” Wood – trombone; Jimmy Jones – piano; Al Hall – bass; Oliver Jackson – drums.
Ellington Reflections 