Description
From its earliest days the Ellington orchestra had ties to New England, first performing in the region in April 1924, in Salem, Massachusetts, and often returning over subsequent years. During the months of July and August 1945 the orchestra did extensive touring of New England. 40 of the 49 tracks on this double CD are from that tour, drawn from two public service broadcasts, commissioned by the US Treasury Department, the first recorded on 14 July at the RKO Theatre, Boston, the second on 21 July at the Fieldstone Ballroom, Marshfield, Massachusetts. The nine 'bonus' tracks are of a 21 September 1945 broadcast from the New Zanzibar club, New York. As with the other volumes in this series, the transcriptions of these broadcasts have survived in remarkably good quality and are a treat for all Ellingtonians.