Reelin' In The Years 6: Climbing Half Way To The Stars

Final post in this series, Reelin' In The Years and imagine my delight as I discovered that the tape transfer I had been listening was an engagement where the headline act was Tony Bennett with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.

A little research when the CD had finished playing, led me to discover that the contents on the tape were likely a recording made on 25 April, 1968.

According to the eve-reliable Duke Where And When website, this, Ellington's second tour with Tony Bennett, began on 3 March, 1968. On this particular occasion, which took place at Dane County Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin...

The Mayor of Madison proclaimed April 25 to be Duke Ellington Day and backstage, late during the concert, Ellington was presented with a citation and the key to the city.

 

Concert tickets were $5.50, $4.50, $3.50, $2.50.

The poster you see above is for the next engagement-but-one on the tour.

Prior to sourcing this tape, I had never heard any recordings from Tony Bennett with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. I suspect this is the only engagement from which recordings survive. It's possible it may be found on the odd torrent site but it was new to me.

From the engagement, here is Tony Bennett singing the Ellington standard I'm Just A Lucky So-and-So. Listen out for the alto solo by Johnny Hodges. I have never heard Rabbit play like this with the Ellington outfit before. It must have been an exciting evening.

 

User 614215157 · Just A Lucky So And So