Black Brown and Beige

After the successful orbital launch of the Soviet unmanned Sputnik 1 mission on October 4, 1957, the space race was on, and the possibility of space travel was on everyone's mind worldwide. That event explains the title of the Duke Ellington album presented here in its entirety: Blues in Orbit(Columbia CS-8241). Beyond its title, however, it is a pure and earthy Ellington masterpiece with no touch of outer space.

"Blues in Orbitprimarily features blues tunes showcasing the whole band. If itlacks the intellectual cache of the suites and concept pieces that loomed large in Ellington's recordings of this period, it is nonetheless 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 session as a formal studio date, balancing the spontaneity of the former and the technical polish of the latter". - Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Ellington and company were just back from a European tour when the bulk of this album was recorded at one after-midnight session in New York on December 2nd, 1959.