Rather than a discussion of his son’s achievements, the subtitle indicates a compilation of the father’s appearances for a short-lived record company, masterminded jointly by Mercer Ellington and Leonard Feather.

Duke’s contribution was scarcely highlighted (specifically because his band and his name were contracted to the major Columbia label during this period), but he was a notable presence on sessions under others’ names, such as Billy Strayhorn and Oscar Pettiford, or under group names like the Coronets. Not included are tracks where he spotlighted the big band’s less than striking vocalists, and what is here has been previously reissued (for instance, on Prestige) but never before collecting all Duke’s instrumental work for the label.

To my mind, the most exciting music is in the disc’s first half, beginning with five titles that introduced Pettiford playing pizzicato cello (including ‘Oscalypso’) which have Ellington comping energetically behind the session leader. More unique are the eight tracks with both Duke and Strayhorn, playing dynamic duets on dreamy blues and ducal standards, such as ‘Cotton Tail’ and ‘Johnny Come Lately’, with Ellington again mostly accompanying (and how!) while Billy indulges some wild harmonic ideas.

That is evident too in the more arranged ‘Tonk’, which the duo had previously recorded as a reduction of the humorous composition Strayhorn first conceived in 1940 for the full band. There’s also a single track of Duke playing a so-called “mandolin piano”, and another lone track where he backs the organ of Wild Bill Davis in the latter’s first contribution to Ellingtonia.

The small groups with horns, including the trombone trio on four tracks, are all driven by Louie Bellson and feature other recent arrivals in the Ellington orbit such as Willie Smith and Paul Gonsalves, who has his first extended solo on ‘The Happening’. And there’s a variety of textures and tempos, even including a couple of standards in ‘Indian Summer’ and ‘Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid’. For newcomers, it’s a pity there’s no detailed personnel listing, but some crucial names are just about visible on a dozen 78rpm labels (out of 27 tracks in total) reproduced in the packaging.