While the 1950s were hardly an era where big bands flourished, there were a few exceptions. The Duke Ellington Orchestra is perhaps the best example. While smaller bands with vocalists, or those playing bebop, cool jazz, and later, hard bop, were jazz's new "mainstream" reality, Ellington seized on the arrival of the LP record both to gamble with his catalog of what had become standards in the jazz book, and forge ahead with new creative ideas made possible by the extended playing time afforded by the new format over the three-minutes-and-change limitations of the 78 rpm disc.
The Complete Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1951-1958, showcases in grand style several phases in the Ellington Orchestra's development. There are extended versions of hits, new suites, high concepts, and new collaborations. The albums presented in this nine-disc box are Masterpieces, Ellington Uptown, Blue Rose (with Rosemary Clooney), A Drum Is a Woman, Such Sweet Thunder (a commission from the Stratford Festival),Ellington Indigos, Black Brown and Beige with Mahalia Jackson, Bal Masque, and Cosmic Scene.
Read more: http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-complete-columbia-studio-albums-collection-1951-1958-mw0002410233
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