During the 1940s, the
Duke Ellington and
Count Basie orchestras were the medulla oblongata in the central nervous system of jazz throughout the United States of America. The evolution of
Duke's unparalleled orchestra during that very transitional decade is etched in commercially issued phonograph records; when the listener is able to follow this progress using lesser-known air check acetates and hand-made field recordings, the plot thickens as tempos relax and soloists are allowed more space for improvisation. It's a lot like hearing the music live through a large antique radio full of bulbous vacuum tubes with orange filaments aglow. Storyville's eight-CD
Duke Box is a treasure chest of live location and broadcast studio performances originally preserved for posterity on privately produced platters and radio transcription discs. Announcers pop up everywhere -- even in the studios -- and some of them garble song titles or blab right over the music.
Alistair Cooke even narrates a "staged rehearsal" as if covering a cricket match. It's an invaluable lesson in the combined histories of jazz and radio.