Musicians :
Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn (piano), Harry Carney, Hilton Jefferson, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gansalves, Russell Procope (saxophone), Britt Woodman, Juan Tizol, Quentin Jackson (trombone), William Anderson, Clark Terry, Ray Nance, Willie Cook (trumpet), Louis Bellson (drums)

Recorded in December 1951 and 1952, Ellington Uptown joins stunning, extended works of recent vintage ("A Tone Parallel to Harlem", "The Liberian Suite", "The Controversial Suite") with fresh looks at such bona fide classics by Ellington and alter ego Billy Strayhorn ("The Mooche", "Take the 'A' Train"), as well as "Period", co-written by longtime star valve trombone soloist Juan Tizol. Ellington (1899-1974) was justly acclaimed for his portraits of various principal players; "Harlem" is a portrait-in-sound of daily life in the world's most famous African-American community. Vocalists also take star turns herein, with Betty Roche's jauntily bopping rendition of "'A' Train", and Al Hibbler's moving "I Like The Sunrise", the first movement of "The Liberian Suite". And there's Louie Bellson establishing himself as the dean of double bass drums on his "Skin Deep". Now expanded by six bonus cuts, and remastered to enhance the album's already spectacular sound, Uptown is a high water mark in the annals of Elingtonia.