Duke Ellington


I 'll be moving to the U Street corridor in DC, only a block or two where Ellington was born. I am ashamed to say that I know nothing about his music. Can you recommend a CD boxset with good recordings and good sound quality? Even book recommendations (Bios and discography) are welcome.
bluecirclehead
I'm not sure if they'e available on cd, but on lp:

1) The Queen's Suite
2) Intimacy of the Blues

This is not "Take The A Train", middle of the fairway Duke Ellington BUT
these are two of the greatest records I've ever heard.

BTW "Take The A Train" and all of Duke's classics are absolutely worth owning and can be found on nmumerous "Best Of" compilations.
Thanks for the recommendations! I'll be checking out all of them very soon.

Jond: Thanks for the welcome. By the way, I will have to consider moving to speakers with a smaller footprint, possibly monitors. You went through something similar, right?

Thedautch: thanks for the recommendation, I've never been to E. on E. but have only heard good things about it. As soon as I find some time to check it out, I'll let you know.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned 'Blues in Orbit' Great songs and one of my favorite recordings
Blue,
Yes when we moved into a much smaller condo I trade my beloved Alon Lotus SE's for a pair of JMlabs Micro-Utopias. I thought I would miss the bass but not at all, the bass I have is tight and punchy and the transparency is addictive. Plus they're incredibly easy to drive! I highly recommend anything from the Utopia series, the Minis would give you a fair amount more bass then the Micros. Happy listening!!
Also, if you like Dr. John, but his "Duke Elegant" represents sort of a New Orleans jazz take on Ellington's material.