Blues in Orbit


Blues in Orbit is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.
The original liner notes by Teo Macero described this album as primarily a blues album. The album was re-released on CD in 2004 with bonus tracks including alternate takes and tracks from earlier sessions.

Reception

The AllMusic reviewer Bruce Eder stated: "Blues in Orbit lacks the intellectual cachet of the suites and concept pieces that loomed large in Ellington's recordings of this period, but it's an album worth tracking down, if only to hear the band run through a lighter side of its sound. Indeed, it captures the essence of a late-night recording date that was as much a loose jam as a formal studio date, balancing the spontaneity of the former and the technical polish of the latter".

Track listing

All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
  1. "Three J's Blues" – 2:54
  2. "Smada" – 2:38
  3. "Pie Eye's Blues" – 3:27
  4. "Sweet and Pungent" – 4:03
  5. "C Jam Blues" – 4:52
  6. "In a Mellow Tone" – 2:43
  7. "Blues in Blueprint" – 3:43
  8. "The Swingers Get the Blues, Too" – 3:09
  9. "The Swinger's Jump" – 3:53
  10. "Blues in Orbit" – 2:29
  11. "Villes Ville Is the Place, Man" – 2:33
  12. "Track 360" – 2:03 Bonus track on CD reissue
  13. "Sentimental Lady" – 4:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
  14. "Brown Penny" – 3:02 Bonus track on CD reissue
  15. "Pie Eye's Blues" – 3:32 Bonus track on CD reissue
  16. "Sweet and Pungent" – 3:52 Bonus track on CD reissue
  17. "The Swinger's Jump" – 3:51 Bonus track on CD reissue
  18. "Blues in Orbit" – 2:39 Bonus track on CD reissue
  19. "Track 360" – 2:01 Bonus track on CD reissue
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, on February 4, 1958 and February 12, 1958 and at CBS [30th Street Studio|Columbia 30th Street Studio], New York, on February 25, 1959, December 2, 1959, and December 3, 1959.

Personnel