Unknown Session
{{short description|1979 album by Duke Ellington}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Unknown Session
| type = Album
| artist = Duke Ellington
| cover = Unknown Session.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1979
| recorded = July 14, 1960
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Jazz
| length = 38:36
| label = Columbia
| producer =
| chronology = Duke Ellington
| prev_title = Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.
| prev_year = 1960
| next_title = Piano in the Foreground
| next_year = 1961
}}
Unknown Session is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington.{{cite news |title=Praise for the Duke |work=The Globe and Mail |date=29 Apr 1978 |page=P32}} It was recorded in 1960 but not released on the Columbia label until 1979.{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=John S. |title=Discovering Ellington and Tatum Once Again |work=The New York Times |date=20 May 1979 |page=D26}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
|rev2 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide
| rev2Score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite book
|editor-last=Swenson
|editor-first=J.
| author-link =
| year = 1985
| title = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide
| publisher = Random House/Rolling Stone
| location = USA
| isbn = 0-394-72643-X
| pages = 69
}}
}}
The Bay State Banner noted that "most of the material is standards, but to each number Duke brings a subtle nuance a new shift a revised line."{{cite news |last1=Lane |first1=George |title=Contemporary Masters Series brings back the best in jazz |work=Bay State Banner |issue=32 |date=17 May 1979 |page=17}}
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow stated that "these renditions are quite enjoyable, swing hard and sound fresh. Ellington fans should pick this one up".Yanow, S. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r138272|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic Review] accessed May 28, 2010
Track listing
:All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
- "Everything But You" (Ellington, Don George, Harry James) - 3:32
- "Black Beauty" - 3:16
- "All Too Soon" (Ellington, Carl Sigman) - 3:12
- "Something to Live For" (Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) - 2:45
- "Mood Indigo" (Barney Bigard, Ellington, Irving Mills) - 3:48
- "Creole Blues [Excerpt from Creole Rhapsody]" - 2:30
- "Don't You Know I Care (Or Don't You Care to Know)" (Mack David, Ellington) - 2:57
- "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing" (Strayhorn) - 3:12
- "Mighty Like the Blues" (Leonard Feather) - 3:19
- "Tonight I Shall Sleep (With a Smile on My Face)" (Ellington, Irving Gordon) - 2:42
- "Dual Highway" (Ellington, Johnny Hodges) - 2:52
- "Blues" - 4:57
:*Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles on July 14, 1960