Our final show dedicated to the legacy of Duke Ellington is indeed a sad one, certainly because we need to cover his passing, but also because it ends exactly one-half of a year that we were able to focus intently on his effect on music history.

As proud as I am of this series, I must admit that I don’t think Duke would have appreciated it quite as much. After all, he was never interested in looking back and continually based his entire career on his next move, his next composition. He certainly would have frowned to see us getting nostalgic, but alas, we have no choice any longer.

Now, the best that we can do is to keep his musical legacy alive, so we leave you with these recordings from the last years of his life.

Featured tracks include:

Portrait of Louis Armstrong

Portrait of Mahalia Jackson

Oclupaca

Brasilliance

Introduction by Sir Colin Crowe

Introduction by Duke Ellington

The Lord’s Prayer/My Love

The Piano Player

Creole Love Call

Meditation

Doin’ the Voom Voom

Black and Tan Fantasy