

This jazz giant wrote hundreds of pieces for dance bands large and small, and his oeuvre is full of fascinating surprises. The whimsical extended instrumental "Tattooed Bride" gradually sheds its musical layers to reveal a honeymoon revelation. The symphonic "La Plus Belle Africaine" virtually invented the concept of Afro-jazz. And "Part IV (Come Sunday)" was Ellington's first religious song and an uplifting vehicle for Mahalia Jackson.