ghost of miles

A new show with a tip of the hat to the forum somewhere way downstream... this turned into quite an accompanying web post, with a deep dive from a couple of Ellingtonians into the evolution of what we now know as "Lotus Blossom." But mostly, just wanting to highlight some of the lovely and compelling small-group music that was made for this artist-owned label by Ellington and others in the Ellington orbit such as Johnny Hodges, Al Hibbler, and Oscar Pettiford, with Billy Strayhorn directing most of the sessions: DIY By Ellington: Duke Ellington's Mercer Records Label Happy DKE Day, an hour or so early.

Disc 4 on my second go-around for this set. Some excellent Peanuts Hucko from 1947 with Dave Tough on drums, then a Jo Stafford session, followed by some Mildred Bailey-Teddy Wilson duets. Enjoying this box even more than I did the first time I listened to it all the way through… bring on the big-band collection!

I hope you're the one who bit! I was just popping into this thread to add my encouragement to an RT purchase. You won't regret it! A fantastic body of music that I'm now feeling inclined to pull out yet again. 😆

A latecomer to this news, but managed over the weekend to snag reasonably-priced center balcony seats for Patti Smith's Horses 50th-anniversary tour when it hits Chicago in November. There'll be at the Michigan Theater (majestic early-20th century movie palace) with the very same band that my partner and I saw in Royal Oak in 2019--Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty from the original 1970s group, longtime bassist Tony Shanahan, and Smith's son Jackson on second guitar. They're going to play Horses in its entirety. Crossing my fingers that everyone stays healthy!

Listening to this for the first time and started with tracks 6 and 7 because of recent comments in this thread. I'm fortunate to report that they play fine on my ancient CD/DVD unit currently in use. Also happy to second the praise for Sonny Red, burning through "Bags' Groove" as I type.

One of my first and still one of my most beloved Mosaics:

Much appreciation to you both! Looks like the 1961 "Lotus Blossom" was an outtake from the Piano In The Foreground sessions, which would explain why it goes unaddressed in Lambert's book, published well before the expanded CD reissue was released that included said track. And the Hodges 1959 small-group recording likely explains why the composition was re-copyrighted that year under the "Lotus Blossom" title.

Hey all, in the homestretch of finishing a new Night Lights that delves into Duke Ellington's Mercer Records label and had a question about this Strayhorn composition, which is arguably best known for Ellington's moving, impromptu solo-piano performance that appears on ...And His Mother Called Him Bill, along with a trio-version alternate take on the CD reissue. According to Walter van de Leur's Billy Strayhorn study Something To Live For, this song was copyrighted in 1946 as "Charlotte Russe" and again in 1959 as "Lotus Blossom." But were there any studio recordings or live performances of it between Hodge's 1947 version for Sunrise (an obscure DKE-owned label that morphed into Mercer Records in 1950) and Ellington's 1967 RCA tribute? I know Strayhorn wrote a great deal of music for the band that either went unrecorded or was recorded many years after the original composition, but it strikes me strange that I can't locate other versions between 1947 and 1967. The story is that Strayhorn greatly enjoyed hearing Ellington play this tune on piano in private, which is why DKE did it for ...And His Mother Called Him Bill. Perhaps it was held back from the ongoing Ellington repertoire because the two held it close for its personal meaning to them? Not out to engage in DKE-Strayhorn psychologizing, but I didn't realize until I encountered the 1947 Hodges original version again that the tune seems to go underground for the next 20 years. (Eddie Lambert and van de Leur's books list no other pre-1967 versions.) Anyway, any insights, information, or wild-ass speculation welcome!

Co-sign all of this and embarrassed that I forgot to mention Tucker's Ellington Reader in particular, which I consider essential for Ellingtonians. (Iirc Tucker also wrote the notes for Mosaic's Ellington Reprise box.) He's yet to appear in this thread, but I believe Joe Medjuck has.

Agree with HutchFan here on all counts and just wanted to toss another book rec into the thread--Harvey Cohen's Duke Ellington's America, which is a deep and well-researched dive that I reviewed for the Night Lights site not long after it was published. Oh, and for a book that deals primarily with Ellington's music, try to track down a copy of Eddie Lambert's Duke Ellington: A Listener's Guide, which goes for a pretty penny these days. It does look to be instantly available on Kindle at a high price. And then there's David Berger's ongoing project, which I haven't really kept tabs on since the appearance of that article several years ago.

A free Record Store Day Strata-East CD sampler:

My only RSD purchase, though I did grab a couple of the free Strata-East CD samplers—waiting for the CD versions of several releases that will follow in two weeks. But could I resist this LP-only compilation of Moodsville sides titled Night Lights? (I actually did a couple of Night Lights shows a gazillion years ago that focused on the Moodsville series, but I doubt that they served as inspiration for this 2025 Craft Records release)