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.A Duke Ellington Panorama , accessed May 28, 2010.Anderson, D. Derek's Blog: Duke Ellington's My People, accessed May 14, 2019 The album features recordings of compositions by Ellington for a stage show presented in Chicago as part of the Century of Negro Progress Exhibition in 1963.
Reception
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.".
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, Ziggy Harrell, Nat Woodard – trumpet Booty Wood, Britt Woodman – trombone Chuck Connors – bass trombone John Sanders – valve trombone Rudy Powell – alto saxophone Pete Clark, Russell Procope – alto saxophone, clarinet Harold Ashby – tenor saxophone, clarinet Bob Freedman – tenor saxophone Billy Strayhorn – piano Joe Benjamin – bass Louis Bellson – drums Juan Amalbert – conga Joya Sherrill, Lil Greenwood, Jimmy McPhail, Irving Bunton Singers – vocals Bunny Briggs – tap dance
References