Duke Ellington: Diminuendo in Blue (and Crescendo in Blue)

The Duke Ellington Orchestras appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival made for one of the most legendary performances in the history of jazz. Paul Gonsalvess 27-chorus solo on Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue, as the festival was about to close, was so explosive that it nearly led to rioting. (Is this why alcohol is banned at the festival today?) Even now, more than 50 years later, the recording raises the hairs on the back of ones neck. Twenty-seven choruses! And not a thought repeated. Throughout Gonsalvess solo his fellow musicians and the audience can be heard egging him on with shouts of encouragement. The air was so charged that Ellington had to take the orchestra through a few quieter numbers to calm things down. The CD labels the track that follows Announcements, Pandemonium. After sitting no, dancing through Gonsalvess firestorm, pandemonium was to be expected.