My People (Duke Ellington album)

My People
My People
Studio album by Duke Ellington
Released	1965
Recorded	August 20, 21 & 27, 1963
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:16
Label	Contact
Producer	Bob Thiele
Duke Ellington chronology

My People is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington written and recorded in 1963 for a stage show and originally released on Bob Thiele's short-lived Contact label before being reissued on the Flying Dutchman label and later released on CD on the Red Baron label.^[1]^[2] The album features recordings of compositions by Ellington for a stage show presented in Chicago as part of the Century of Negro Progress Exposition in 1963.

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Record Mirror	^[4]

Released in 1965 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The reviewer for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "My People is a snapshot of a specific era and is most interesting as a representation of its time, not as an individual work."^[3]^{[better source needed]}

Track listing edit

All compositions by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

"Ain't But the One/Will You Be There?/99%" – 5:16
"Come Sunday/David Danced Before the Lord" – 6:09
"My Mother, My Father (Heritage)" – 2:50
"Montage" – 6:54
"My People/The Blues" – 8:56
"Workin' Blues/My Man Sends Me/Jail Blues/Lovin' Lover" – 5:57
"King Fit the Battle of Alabam'" – 3:25
"What Color Is Virtue?" – 2:49

Recorded at Universal Studios, Chicago on August 20 (tracks 1a, 2, 4, 5b, 6a, 6c & 7), August 21 (tracks 1b, 1c, 3, 5a & 8) and August 27 (tracks 6b & 6d), 1963.

Personnel edit

Duke Ellington – director, narration
Ray Nance – cornet
Bill Berry, Ziggy Harrell, Nat Woodard – trumpet
Booty Wood, Britt Woodman – trombone
Chuck Connors – bass trombone
John Sanders – valve trombone
Rudy Powell – alto saxophone
Pete Clark, Russell Procope – alto saxophone, clarinet
Harold Ashby – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Bob Freedman – tenor saxophone
Billy Strayhorn – piano
Joe Benjamin – bass
Louis Bellson – drums
Juan Amalbert – conga
Joya Sherrill, Lil Greenwood, Jimmy McPhail, Irving Bunton Singers – vocals
Bunny Briggs - tap dance

References edit

^ A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 28, 2010.
^ Anderson, D. Derek's Blog: Duke Ellington's My People, accessed May 14, 2019
^ ^a ^b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Duke Ellington – My People: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2020..
^ "Duke Ellington: My People" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 161. 11 April 1964. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

[Panorama-1] A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 28, 2010.

[2] Anderson, D. Derek's Blog: Duke Ellington's My People, accessed May 14, 2019

[Allmusic-3] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Duke Ellington – My People: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2020..

[4] "Duke Ellington: My People" (PDF). Record Mirror. No. 161. 11 April 1964. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

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