The third ”goodie” in April is program 38 in the Duke Ellington series of broadcast by the Danish Radio in the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. The broadcast is available in the “Goodies” section of the website.
The program was broadcasted on Dec. 8, 1985
It starts with a short rehearsal excerpt of Don Juan recorded in New York on July 18, 1966. Then follows what the presenter says is “an earlier but shorter take of Sam Woodyard’s Blues” from the same stockpile session. He says it is is called 6:40 Blues.
Possibly, this is written on the tape box but what he plays is The Shepheard. Benny Aaslund pointed out this already in his listing of the Danish Radio broadcasts in the DEMS Bulletin 1986/2 and it is listed like this in NDESOR. Despite what Aaslund says in his listing, it is take -2 which is included in The Pianist album.
The broadcast continues with five Ellington selections from another stockpile session – the one in New York on March 17, 1965.
This part starts with what the presenter calls Counter. However, it is better known as Banquet from Ellingtonton’s “incidental music” for Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. In NDESOR it has the alternative title Counter Theme.
Next comes the unissued take 4 of Pass Out Blues (based on St. Louis Blues) and Skillipop take 3 before the section ends with * Amad from Far East Suite och Monologue (aka Pretty And The Wolf). Both are unissued takes.
The presenter then moves on to the stockpile session of March 4, 1965. First he plays Tutti For Cootie (aka Fade Up) and The Opener – both recordings used in the Concert in Virgin Islands album.
They end Ellington’s part of the recording session but Billy Strayhorn stayed behind and improvised two melodies together with John Lamb and Sam Woodyard. At the time of the broadcast, they were a mystery and in a comment Benny Aaslund and Sjef Hoefsmit said “this kind of cocktail piano playing is hardly executed Duke Ellington.
The broadcast ends with three selections from different stockpile sessions. First comes Tang from Afro-Eurasian Eclipse followed recorded on Feb. 17, 1971. It is followed by Take The “A” Train recorded on May 24, 1962 and I‘m Gonna Go Fishin’ from Anatomy Of A Murder recorded the following day.