The Treasury Shows Vol. 3

This is Vol. 3 of a long series of releases of the complete Treasury Broadcasts from the mid forties. Contracted by the U.S. Treasury Dept. in 1945, Duke Ellington And His Orchestra performed a series of public service radio broadcasts to arouse patriotism and sell war bonds to help the U.S. military defeat the Japanese to end World War 11. Besides performing music which was already well known his own as well as others' Ellington uses the programs presented here to test, check and refine new material, such as the tunes "Blutopia" and "Carnegie Blues." It's very lucky that these precious, well recorded radio broadcasts have survived. They represent an important, yet elusive, period in the evolution of jazz namely, the mid 40's. This 2 CD set features several star performers Johnny Hodges, Rex Stewart, AI Sears, Joya Sherrill and AI Hibbler, among others and especially trombonist Lawrence Brown.