HutchFan

Yes indeed. NP: Henri Texier Azur Quintet - Mosaïc Man (Label Bleu, 1998)

This new-to-me CD just arrived in the mail. First listen. Charles Lloyd - Hyperion with Higgins (ECM, 2001) with John Abercrombie, Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, and Billy Higgins

Two delicious slices of pie from these artists' discographies. I enjoy other slices too -- but I can see how the albums listed above align with your stated preferences.

Gust William Tsilis Quartet - Possibilities (Ken Music, 1991)

Now this: Giovanni Hidalgo - "Time Shifter" (TropiJazz, 1996)

Still more Big George:

Two fantastic LPs!

Listening to this George Coleman album again:

More by Carlos Barbosa-Lima:

Now: Earlier:

NP: Jack Walrath & the Masters of Suspense - Out of the Tradition (Muse, 1992)

More Hilton Ruiz:

I enjoyed this so much yesterday that I'm listening to it again today:

Me too.

There's no tidy, agreed-upon divisions. By "mid- and late-period" Ellington, I'm basically referring to everything after the Blanton-Webster band. So, yes, mid-1940s onward.

My recommendations: - The World of Duke Ellington by Stanley Dance - Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington by John Edward Hasse - Duke: A Portrait of Duke Ellington by Derek Jewell - Duke Ellington in Person: An Intimate Memoir by Mercer Ellington I would avoid the biographies by James Lincoln Collier and Terry Teachout, who both fail to understand/recognize the brilliance and importance of mid- and late-period Ellington.