The Blanton–Webster Band combines the master takes of all the recordings by Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

's Orchestra during the years of 1940 to 1942, involving bassist

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

 Jimmy Blanton

Jimmy Blanton

Jimmie Blanton was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of pizzicato and bowed bass solos....

 and tenor saxophonist

Tenor saxophone

The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...

 Ben Webster

Ben Webster

Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...

. The recordings were originally made for RCA Victor during what many critics regard as the Ellington orchestra's golden period. The three CDs contain many numbers which were to become classics, and the arrangements (by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

Billy Strayhorn

William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...

) were frequently inventive and innovative.

The collection does not include alternate takes or the duets Ellington performed with Jimmy Blanton

Jimmy Blanton

Jimmie Blanton was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of pizzicato and bowed bass solos....

, available elsewhere. With 66 tracks, the selection includes many of Ellington's hits and classic songs. Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

praises the collection as "a masterwork of composition and leadership" and "a series of individual triumphs from the greatest team of jazz players...ever assembled". Allmusic describes it as "essential for all jazz collections".

The collection was re-organized and rereleased with additional tracks in 2003 as Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band

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 new masters...

.

Disc one

1. "You, You Darlin'" (M.K. Jerome, Jack Scholl) – 3:19
2. "Jack the Bear" – 3:15
3. "Ko Ko" – 2:39
4. "Morning Glory" (Ellington, Rex Stewart
   Rex Stewart
   Rex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
   
   ) – 3:15
5. "So Far, So Good" (Jack Lawrence
   Jack Lawrence
   Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
   
   , Jimmy Mundy
   Jimmy Mundy
   Jimmy Mundy was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Earl Hines....
   
   , E.G. White) – 2:50
6. "Conga Brava" (Ellington, Juan Tizol
   Juan Tizol
   Juan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
   
   ) – 2:54
7. "Concerto for Cootie" – 3:19
8. "Me and You" – 2:54
9. "Cotton Tail
   Cotton Tail
   "Cotton Tail" is a 1940 composition by Duke Ellington. It is based on the rhythm changes from George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm". The first Ellington recording is notable for the driving tenor saxophone solo by Ben Webster. Originally an instrumental, "Cotton Tail" later had lyrics written for it by...
   
   " – 3:08
10. "Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore)
    Don't Get Around Much Anymore
    "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" is a jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Bob Russell. The tune was originally titled "Never No Lament" and was first recorded by Ellington in 1940 as a big band instrumental...
    
    " (Ellington, Bob Russell
    Bob Russell (songwriter)
    Sidney Keith "Bob" Russell, was an American songwriter born in Passaic, New Jersey.In 1968, Russell along with songwriting partner Quincy Jones was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Song category...
    
    ) – 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" – (Joe Burke
    Joe Burke (composer)
    Joseph A. Burke was an American composer and pianist. He was born in Philadelphia and died in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music and started as a pianist accompanying silent movies and an arranger in a music publishing firm. It was during this time...
    
    , Edgar Leslie
    Edgar Leslie
    Edgar Leslie was an American songwriter. His first song Lonesome in 1909 was an immediate success, recorded by the Haydn Quartet and again by Byron G. Harlan. Other notable artists he worked with are:...
    
    ) – 2:45
17. "All Too Soon
    All Too Soon
    "All Too Soon" is a 1940 song composed by Duke Ellington with lyrics written by Carl Sigman.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook *Peggy Lee, George Shearing - Beauty and the Beat!...
    
    " (Ellington, Carl Sigman
    Carl Sigman
    Carl Sigman was an American songwriter.-Biography:Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his Bar exams to practice in the state of New York...
    
    ) – 3:28
18. "Rumpus in Richmond" – 2:46
19. "My Greatest Mistake" (Jack Fulton), Jack O'Brien) – 3:27
20. "Sepia Panorama" – 3:20
21. "There Shall Be No Night" (Gladys Shelley, Abner Silver
    Abner Silver
    Abner Silver was an American songwriter who worked primarily during the Tin Pan Alley era of the craft. He was born on December 28, 1899, in New York....
    
    ) – 3:05
22. "In a Mellow Tone
    In a Mellow Tone
    "In a Mellow Tone", also known as "In a Mellotone", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler. The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams...
    
    " (Ellington, Milt Gabler
    Milt Gabler
    Milton Gabler was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century.-Early life:...
    
    ) – 3:19

Disc two

1. "Five O'Clock Whistle" (Kim Gannon, Gene Irwin, Josef Myrow
   Josef Myrow
   Josef Myrow was a Russian-born composer known for his work in film scores in the 1940s and 50s. He was nominated for an Academy Award twice: in 1947 for the song "You Do" from the film Mother Wore Tights and in 1950 for "Wilhelmina" from the film Wabash Avenue...
   
   ) – 3:18
2. "Warm Valley" – 3:20
3. "The Flaming Sword" – 3:06
4. "Across the Track Blues" – 2:58
5. "Chloe" (Gus Kahn
   Gus Kahn
   Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
   
   , Neil Moret
   Neil Moret
   Charles N. Daniels , was a composer, occasional lyricist, and music publishing executive. He employed many pseudonyms, including Neil Moret, Jules Lemare, L'Albert, Paul Bertrand, Julian Strauss, and Sidney Carter...
   
   ) – 3:24
6. "I Never Felt This Way Before" (Al Dubin
   Al Dubin
   Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
   
   , Ellington) – 3:23
7. "The Sidewalks of New York" (James W. Blake, Charles B. Lawlor
   Charles B. Lawlor
   Charles B. Lawlor was an American vaudeville performer and composer of popular songs. He was born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States in 1869....
   
   ) – 3:14
8. "Flamingo
   Flamingo (song)
   "Flamingo" is a popular song and jazz standard written byTed Grouya and Edmund Anderson and first performed by Herb Jeffries and Duke Ellington...
   
   " (Edmund Anderson, Ted Grouya) – 3:22
9. "The Girl in My Dreams Tries to Look Like You" – 3:19
10. "Take the "A" Train" (Billy Strayhorn
    Billy Strayhorn
    William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...
    
    ) – 2:54
11. "Jumpin' Punkins" – 3:33
12. "John Hardy's Wife" – 3:28
13. "Blue Serge" – 3:20
14. "After All" (Strayhorn) – 3:19
15. "Bakiff" (Tizol) – 3:23
16. "Are You Sticking?" – 3:02
17. "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
    Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
    "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin" is a 1941 song composed by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, with lyrics written by Lee Gaines. It was released on his 1941 album ”Take the ‘A’ Train” .-Trivia:...
    
    " (Ellington, Gaines, Strayhorn) – 3:33
18. "The Giddybug Gallop" – 3:29
19. "Chocolate Shake" (Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
    Paul Francis Webster
    Paul Francis Webster was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Song and was nominated sixteen times for the award.-Biography:...
    
    ) – 2:50
20. "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
    I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
    "I Got It Bad " is a pop and jazz standard with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster published in 1941...
    
    " (Ellington, Webster) – 3:17
21. "Clementine" (Strayhorn) – 2:53
22. "Brown-Skin Gal (In the Calico Gown)" (Ellington, Webster) – 3:06

Disc three

1. "Jump for Joy" (Ellington, Sid Kuller, Webster) – 2:50
2. "Moon Over Cuba" (Ellington, Tizol) – 3:09
3. "Five O'Clock Drag" – 2:49
4. "Rocks in My Bed" – 3:06
5. "Bli-Blip" (Ellington, Kuller) – 3:03
6. "Chelsea Bridge
   Chelsea Bridge (song)
   "Chelsea Bridge" is a jazz standard written by Billy Strayhorn. The song has been recorded by Duke Ellington, Ben Webster, Wynton Marsalis, Keith Jarrett, Lew Tabackin, Vince Guaraldi, and Tony Bennett, among many others...
   
   " (Strayhorn) – 2:52
7. "Rain Check" (Strayhorn) – 2:28
8. "What Good Would It Do?" (Harry James
   Harry James
   Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
   
   , Buddy Pepper) – 2:44
9. "I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I Got" – 3:13
10. "Perdido" (Ervin Drake
    Ervin Drake
    Ervin Drake, born Ervin Maurice Druckman is an American songwriter whose works include such American Songbook standards as "It Was a Very Good Year". He has written in a variety of styles and his work has been recorded by musicians from all over the world in a multitude of styles...
    
    , H.J. Lengsfelder, Tizol) – 3:08
11. "C Jam Blues
    C Jam Blues
    "C Jam Blues" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington and performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin and Django Reinhardt. As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major....
    
    " (Barney Bigard
    Barney Bigard
    Albany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
    
    , Ellington) – 2:37
12. "Moon Mist" – 2:58
13. "What Am I Here For?" (Ellington, Frankie Laine
    Frankie Laine
    Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
    
    ) – 3:28
14. "I Don't Mind" (Ellington, Strayhorn) – 2:49
15. "Someone" – 3:09
16. "My Little Brown Book" (Strayhorn) – 3:13
17. "Main Stem" – 2:47
18. "Johnny Come Lately" (Strayhorn) – 2:39
19. "Hayfoot, Strawfoot" (Drake, Lengsfelder, Paul McGrane) – 2:30
20. "Sentimental Lady
    Sentimental Lady (Duke Ellington song)
    "Sentimental Lady" is a 1943 instrumental by Duke Ellington. "Sentimental Lady" reached number one on the Harlem Hit Parade and was the B-side to Duke Ellington's previous number one, "A Slip Of the Lip ", which had reached the top spot a week before"Sentimental Lady" is a 1943 instrumental by...
    
    " – 2:58
21. "A Slip of the Lip (Can Sink a Ship)" (Ellington, Henderson) – 2:54
22. "Sherman Shuffle" – 2:38

Performance

• Ivie Anderson
  Ivie Anderson
  Ivie Anderson was an American jazz singer. She was best-known for her performances with Duke Ellington's orchestra between 1931 and 1942....
  
   — vocals
• Barney Bigard
  Barney Bigard
  Albany Leon Bigard, aka Barney Bigard, was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist, though primarily known for the clarinet....
  
   — clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  
• Jimmy Blanton
  Jimmy Blanton
  Jimmie Blanton was an influential American jazz double bassist. Blanton is credited with being the originator of pizzicato and bowed bass solos....
  
   — bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Lawrence Brown — trombone
  Trombone
  The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
  
  
• Harry Carney
  Harry Carney
  Harry Howell Carney was an American swing baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist mainly known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. Carney started off as an alto player with Ellington, but soon switched to the baritone. His strong, steady saxophone often served as...
  
   — clarinet, alto sax
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  , baritone sax
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  
• Duke Ellington
  Duke Ellington
  Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
  
   — piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Sonny Greer
  Sonny Greer
  Sonny Greer was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Duke Ellington.Greer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and played with Elmer Snowden's band and the Howard Theatre's orchestra in Washington, D.C. before joining Duke Ellington, who he met in 1919...
  
   — drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Fred Guy
  Fred Guy
  Fred Guy was an American jazz banjo player and guitarist.Guy was raised in New York City. He played guitar and banjo with Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra, and in 1925 he joined Duke Ellington's Washingtonians, replacing Elmer Snowden...
  
   — guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Otto Hardwick
  Otto Hardwick
  Otto James "Toby" Hardwicke was a saxophone player associated with Duke Ellington.-Biography:Hardwick started on string bass at the age of 14, then moved to C-melody sax and finally settled on alto saxophone. A childhood friend of Duke Ellington's, Hardwick joined Ellington's first band in...
  
   — alto sax, baritone sax
• Johnny Hodges
  Johnny Hodges
  John Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges was an American alto saxophonist, best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years, except the period between 1932–1946 when Otto Hardwick generally played first chair...
  
   — clarinet, alto sax, soprano sax
  Soprano saxophone
  The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
  
  
• Herb Jeffries — vocals
• Wallace Jones
  Wallace Jones
  Wallace "Wah Wah" Clayton Jones is a retired American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association from 1949 to 1952 with the Indianapolis Olympians....
  
   — trumpet
• Ray Nance
  Ray Nance
  Ray Willis Nance was a jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer.Nance is best known for his long association with Duke Ellington through most of the 1940s and 1950s, after he was hired to replace Cootie Williams in 1940...
  
   — trumpet, violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  , vocals
• Joe Nanton — trombone
• Alvin "Junior" Raglin
  Junior Raglin
  Alvin "Junior" Raglin was an American swing jazz double-bassist.Raglin started out on guitar but had picked up bass by the mid-1930s. He played with Eugene Coy from 1938 to 1941 in Oregon, and then joined Duke Ellington's Orchestra, where he replaced Jimmy Blanton...
  
   — bass
• Rex Stewart
  Rex Stewart
  Rex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra....
  
   — cornet
  Cornet
  The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
  
  
• Billy Strayhorn
  Billy Strayhorn
  William Thomas "Billy" Strayhorn was an American composer, pianist and arranger, best known for his successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington lasting nearly three decades. His compositions include "Chelsea Bridge", "Take the "A" Train" and "Lush Life".-Early...
  
   — piano
• Juan Tizol
  Juan Tizol
  Juan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
  
   — valve trombone
• Ben Webster
  Ben Webster
  Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
  
   — tenor sax
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Cootie Williams
  Cootie Williams
  Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
  
   — trumpet

Production

• Steve Backer – executive producer
• Ed Begley – remastering
• Duke Ellington – arranger
• Bob Porter – reissue producer
• Billy Strayhorn – arranger
• Mary Tucker – liner notes