IN MY MIND, the link to Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (1970) is Charles Mingus’ 1964 LP Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus. But it starts with this recording, distributed as a bootleg until an “official” release in 1978. The Duke Ellington Orchestra live in concert at the Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940. Specifically their versions of “Mood Indigo”, almost midway through this set, and the 30 second rendition of “God Bless America”, appearing at the end of disc 2, which I’ll post next week. Charlie owned at least two versions of the “commercial” release: the U.K. “Volume 1” vinyl, and the 1995 Japanese 2X CD, which I post here. Solid, Jackson.
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Duke Ellington at Fargo, Live 1940 (complete)
Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota
7 November 1940
Recorded by Jack Towers and Dick Burns
Wallace Jones & Rex Stewart, trumpets
Ray Nance, trumpet, violin, vocal
Tricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, trombones
Barney Bigard, clarinet, tenor sax
Johnny Hodges, alto sax
Otto Hardwick, alto sax, clarinet
Ben Webster, tenor sax
Harry Carney, baritone sax, clarinet
Duke Ellington, piano
Fred Guy, guitar, whistle
Jimmy Blanton, bass
Sonny Greer, drums
Ivie Anderson & Herb Jeffries, vocal
Track listing:
It’s Glory (partial) (E. Ellington)
The Mooche (E. Ellington, I. Mills)
The Sheik Of Araby (H. Smith, T. Snyder)
Sepia Panorama (E. Ellington)
Ko-Ko (E. Ellington)
There Shall Be No Night (G. Shelley, A. Silver)
Pussy Willow (E. Ellington)
Chatterbox (E. Ellington)
Mood Indigo (B. Bigard, E. Ellington, I Mills)
Harlem Airshaft (E. Ellington)
Ferryboat Serenade (M. Panzeri, E. Lazzaro, H. Arlen)
Warm Valley (and chaser) (E. Ellington)
Stompy Jones (E. Ellington)
Chole (including interruption) (C. Daniels, G. Kahn)
Bojangles (E. Ellington)
On The Air (E. Ellington)
Rumpus In Richmond (E. Ellington)
(chaser)
The Sidewalks Of New York (including interruption) (public domain)
The Flaming Sword (E. Ellington)
Never No Lament (E. Ellington)
Caravan (including interruption) (E. Ellington, I. Mills, J. Tizol)
Clarinet Lament (B. Bigard, E. Ellington)
All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved.
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