It would be easy to downplay this as merely some more gems from the amazingly prolific Ellington, but the context tells much about the actual music. Ahead of his time as usual, in 1956 Duke decided (before re-signing with Columbia) to initiate a long series of recordings at his own expense, for what was subsequently described as his ‘stockpile’ or ‘private collection’. The material eventually appeared, mostly posthumously, on Fantasy, Pablo and Bob Thiele's label Doctor Jazz, and on a series of albums actually called The Private Collection, nearly all of them featuring the big-band. Everything here, though, except for the three bonus tracks, is by small groups with significant contributions from Ellington's piano, and the key soloist is the then underrated Gonsalves. There are also snippets of Terry and Hodges, even valve-trombonist Sanders, and a loose atmosphere evoking various hues of the blues. A couple of pieces relate to better known recordings, yet the real interest lies in the relaxed informality of these proceedings. No masterpieces here perhaps, but some effortless mining of the jazz bedrock.