Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band


Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band is a 2003 three-disc compilation combining the master takes of all the recordings by Duke Ellington's Orchestra during the years of 1940 to 1942 with an additional nine tracks, including five alternative takes and four additional masters. An expanded version of The Blanton–Webster Band, this reissue, according to AllMusic, "truly worth either an initial investment or reinvestment". All About Jazz: New York observed that these performances, from what is often considered "the band in its prime", "not only set the standard for big bands and jazz orchestras, but created an ideal near insurmountable to improve upon". The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this compilation as part of its suggested "Core Collection."
An earlier collection of recordings from this period was first issued in 1986 by RCA Bluebird containing 66 tracks. This 2003 version draws on the 1999 transfers first issued in The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings with an additional nine tracks over the 1986 edition, including the Blanton Ellington duos "Pitter Panther Patter" and "Body and Soul".
Ellington put Blanton front-and-center on the bandstand nightly, unheard of for a bassist at the time, together with tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, thus this era of Ellington's ensemble is referred to the Blanton–Webster band.
Bassist Jimmy Blanton was only with the Ellington orchestra for two years, leaving in 1941 due to tuberculosis, and dying the following year at the age of 23. Blanton does not appear on the final 17 tracks of the 2003 collection, having been replaced on bass by Alvin "Junior" Raglin.

Track list

Unless otherwise noted, all tracks by Duke Ellington.

Disc one

  1. "You, You Darlin'" – 3:19
  2. "Jack the Bear" – 3:15
  3. "Ko-Ko" – 2:39
  4. "Morning Glory" – 3:15
  5. "So Far, So Good" – 2:50
  6. "Conga Brava" – 2:54
  7. "Concerto for Cootie" – 3:19
  8. "Me and You" – 2:54
  9. "Cotton Tail" – 3:08
  10. "Never No Lament " – 3:15
  11. "Dusk" – 3:19
  12. "Bojangles" – 2:50
  13. "A Portrait of Bert Williams" – 3:09
  14. "Blue Goose" – 3:21
  15. "Harlem Air Shaft" – 2:57
  16. "At a Dixie Roadside Diner" – – 2:45
  17. "All Too Soon" – 3:28
  18. "Rumpus in Richmond" – 2:46
  19. "My Greatest Mistake" – 3:27
  20. "Sepia Panorama" – 3:20
  21. "There Shall Be No Night" – 3:05
  22. "In a Mellow Tone" – 3:19
  23. "Five O'Clock Whistle" – 3:18
  24. "The Flaming Sword" – 3:06
  25. "Warm Valley" – 3:20

Disc two

  1. "Across the Track Blues" – 2:58
  2. "Chloe " – 3:24
  3. "I Never Felt This Way Before" – 3:23
  4. "The Sidewalks of New York" – 3:14
  5. "Flamingo" – 3:22
  6. "The Girl in My Dreams Tries to Look Like You" – 3:19
  7. "Take the "A" Train" – 2:54
  8. "Jumpin' Punkins" – 3:33
  9. "John Hardy's Wife" – 3:28
  10. "Blue Serge" – 3:20
  11. "After All" – 3:19
  12. "Bakiff" – 3:23
  13. "Are You Sticking?" – 3:02
  14. "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'" – 3:33
  15. "The Giddybug Gallop" – 3:29
  16. "Pitter Panther Patter" – 3:03
  17. "Body and Soul" – 3:11
  18. "Sophisticated Lady" – 2:47
  19. "Mr. J.B. Blues" – 3:09
  20. "Ko-Ko" – 2:40
  21. "Bojangles" – 2:46
  22. "Sepia Panorama" – 3:24
  23. "Jumpin' Punkins" – 3:42
  24. "Jump for Joy" – 2:56

Disc three

  1. "Chocolate Shake" – 2:50
  2. "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" – 3:17
  3. "Clementine" – 2:53
  4. "Brown-Skin Gal " – 3:06
  5. "Jump for Joy" – 2:50
  6. "Moon Over Cuba" – 3:09
  7. "Five O'Clock Drag" – 2:49
  8. "Rocks in My Bed" – 3:06
  9. "Bli Blip" – 3:03
  10. "Chelsea Bridge" – 2:52
  11. "Rain Check" – 2:28
  12. "What Good Would It Do?" – 2:44
  13. "I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I Got" – 3:13
  14. "Perdido" – 3:08
  15. "The 'C' Jam Blues" – 2:37
  16. "Moon Mist" – 2:58
  17. "What Am I Here For?" – 3:28
  18. "I Don't Mind" – 2:49
  19. "Someone" – 3:09
  20. "My Little Brown Book" – 3:13
  21. "Main Stem" – 2:47
  22. "Johnny Come Lately" – 2:39
  23. "Hayfoot, Strawfoot" – 2:30
  24. "Sentimental Lady" – 2:58
  25. "A Slip of the Lip " – 2:54
  26. "Sherman Shuffle" – 2:38

Personnel

Performance

Production