Duke Ellington, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940 (Complete) Disc One

IN MY MIND, the link to Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra (1970) is Charles Mingus’ 1964 LP Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus. But it starts with this recording, distributed as a bootleg until an “official” release in 1978. The Duke Ellington Orchestra live in concert at the Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota, 7 November 1940. Specifically their versions of “Mood Indigo”, almost midway through this set, and the 30 second rendition of “God Bless America”, appearing at the end of disc 2, which I’ll post next week. Charlie owned at least two versions of the “commercial” release: the U.K. “Volume 1” vinyl, and the 1995 Japanese 2X CD, which I post here. Solid, Jackson.In this Substack podcast I listen to albums and cassettes from the collection of my father, the late jazz bassist Charlie Haden. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing. Josh Haden’s Memoire is about life, death, jazz, slowcore, and survival. The address is joshhaden.substack.com.Check out Charlie’s record collection.Check out my eBay store.Duke Ellington at Fargo, Live 1940 (complete)Crystal Ballroom, Fargo, North Dakota7 November 1940Recorded by Jack Towers and Dick BurnsWallace Jones & Rex Stewart, trumpetsRay Nance, trumpet, violin, vocalTricky Sam Nanton, Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, trombonesBarney Bigard, clarinet, tenor saxJohnny Hodges, alto saxOtto Hardwick, alto sax, clarinetBen Webster, tenor saxHarry Carney, baritone sax, clarinetDuke Ellington, pianoFred Guy, guitar, whistleJimmy Blanton, bassSonny Greer, drumsIvie Anderson & Herb Jeffries, vocalTrack listing:* It’s Glory (partial) (E. Ellington)* The Mooche (E. Ellington, I. Mills)* The Sheik Of Araby (H. Smith, T. Snyder)* Sepia Panorama (E. Ellington)* Ko-Ko (E. Ellington)* There Shall Be No Night (G. Shelley, A. Silver)* Pussy Willow (E. Ellington)* Chatterbox (E. Ellington)* Mood Indigo (B. Bigard, E. Ellington, I Mills)* Harlem Airshaft (E. Ellington)* Ferryboat Serenade (M. Panzeri, E. Lazzaro, H. Arlen)* Warm Valley (and chaser) (E. Ellington)* Stompy Jones (E. Ellington)* Chole (including interruption) (C. Daniels, G. Kahn)* Bojangles (E. Ellington)* On The Air (E. Ellington)* Rumpus In Richmond (E. Ellington)* (chaser)* The Sidewalks Of New York (including interruption) (public domain)* The Flaming Sword (E. Ellington)* Never No Lament (E. Ellington)* Caravan (including interruption) (E. Ellington, I. Mills, J. Tizol)* Clarinet Lament (B. Bigard, E. Ellington)All words & images © 2025 Josh Haden, except where noted. All rights reserved.Josh Haden's Mémoire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit joshhaden.substack.com/subscribe