My People (Duke Ellington album)

My People
My People
Studio album by Duke Ellington
Released	1965
Recorded	August 20, 21 & 27, 1963
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:16
Label	Contact
Producer	Bob Thiele
Duke Ellington chronology

My People is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington written and recorded in 1963 for a stage show and originally released on Bob Thiele's short-lived Contact label before being reissued on the Flying Dutchman label and later released on CD on the Red Baron label.^[1]^[2] The album features recordings of compositions by Ellington for a stage show presented in Chicago as part of the Century of Negro Progress Exposition in 1963.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]

Released in 1965 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The reviewer for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "My People is a snapshot of a specific era and is most interesting as a representation of its time, not as an individual work."^[3]

Track listing[]

All compositions by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn

"Ain't But the One/Will You Be There?/99%" - 5:16
"Come Sunday/David Danced Before the Lord" - 6:09
"My Mother, My Father (Heritage)" - 2:50
"Montage" - 6:54
"My People/The Blues" - 8:56
"Workin' Blues/My Man Sends Me/Jail Blues/Lovin' Lover" - 5:57
"King Fit the Battle of Alabam'" - 3:25
"What Color Is Virtue?" - 2:49

Recorded at Universal Studios, Chicago on August 20 (tracks 1a, 2, 4, 5b, 6a, 6c & 7), August 21 (tracks 1b, 1c, 3, 5a & 8) and August 27 (tracks 6b & 6d), 1963.

Personnel[]

Duke Ellington – director, narration
Ray Nance - cornet
Bill Berry, , - trumpet
Booty Wood, Britt Woodman - trombone
Chuck Connors - bass trombone
- valve trombone
Rudy Powell - alto saxophone
, Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet
Harold Ashby - tenor saxophone, clarinet
- tenor saxophone
Billy Strayhorn - piano
Joe Benjamin - bass
Louis Bellson - drums
- conga
Joya Sherrill, Lil Greenwood, , - vocals

References[]

^ A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 28, 2010.
^ Anderson, D. Derek's Blog: Duke Ellington's My People, accessed May 14, 2019
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Duke Ellington – My People: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2020..

[Panorama-1] A Duke Ellington Panorama Archived 2017-09-09 at the Wayback Machine, accessed May 28, 2010.

[2] Anderson, D. Derek's Blog: Duke Ellington's My People, accessed May 14, 2019

[Allmusic-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Duke Ellington – My People: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2020..

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