Características
This set came about in part as a result of Ellington signing a contract with Frank Sinatra's Reprise label in November 1962, when his exclusive contract with Columbia expired. Originally, six tracks from his three performances in Paris were edited and released by Reprise as part of the ten-track "Duke Ellington's Greatest Hits" record; but the bulk of the numbers played at those performances didn't surface until years later on two LPs titled "The Great Paris Concert."
This album, "The Great Paris Concert," is still more or less in its raw state and largely unedited. It shows the complete Ellington band in exceptionally good shape; from the beginning their energy is palpable - starting with the first piece for saxophone, "Rockin' In Rhythm", the different parts of the band put in a mighty effort on the various pieces throughout the concert, which also includes (at the time) contemporary pieces such as Ellington's theme music for an almost forgotten TV series, "The Asphalt Jungle", as well as excerpts from "Such Sweet Thunder".
Johnny Hodges plays several standout solos, notably on "Suite Thursday," a work for which he was not present for the original studio version; Cootie Williams ("Tutti For Cootie"), Paul Gonsalves ("Cop Out"), Ray Nance ("Bula") and Cat Anderson ("Jam With Sam") each get their own spotlight appearance.
Duke Ellington (p); Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams (tp); Lawrence Brown, Buster Cooper (tb); Paul Gonsalves, Johnny Hodges (sax); Russell Procope (cl, sax); Ernie Shephard (b); Sam Woodyard (dr); Milt Grayson (voc), u.a.
Side One
1. Kinda Dukish
Rockin' In Rhythm
2. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
3. The Star-Crossed Lovers
4. All Of Me
5. Theme From "Asphalt Jungle"
Side Two
1. Concerto For Cootie
2. Tutti For Cootie
3. Suite Thursday
a) Misfit Blues
b) Schwiphti
c) Zweet Zurzday
d) Lay-By
Side Three
1. Perdido
2. The Eight Veil
3. Rose Of The Rio Grande
4. Cop Out
5. Bula
Side Four
1. Jam With Sam
2. Happy-Go-Lucky Local
3. Tone Prallel To Harlem