In one sense, this is merely a typical Ellington concert, therefore with some moments of interest and others you’ve heard on lots of other occasions. The band were two weeks into one of their European tours (almost annual on the Continent, but the UK had to wait from 1958 until 1963) and, apart from the regal saxophone section, the personnel was in a state of flux. Drummer Johnson replaced Sam Woodyard for several months; Ford and Wood had just arrived at the start of the tour, and two more brassmen Quentin Jackson and Clark Terry (who’s heard at some length on the ‘Basin Street’ encore) were about to stay behind to work with Quincy Jones, while bassist Woode would leave six months later to settle in Europe.

But that’s mostly of interest to specialists, whereas the listener wanting just one live Duke is likely to be disappointed, particularly by the recorded sound. Although advertised as ‘hi-res’, I’m told the source is the same as on the 40-year-old LPs on the Swing House label [among other versions of this much-issued concert], and it has all the hallmarks of a tape from the PA system, with a minimum of mikes on stage (this was 1959, remember) resulting in an occasionally strange ensemble balance and several solos and vocals out of reach.

Maybe because that encore is by a septet, it has the best sound of the concert.