Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Victor 22791 (1927 & 1931)

Had this record for a while but never played it...not even sure where or how I acquired it...but attempting to give it a listen recently, I discovered that it was unplayable. Not sure why but the grooves are not completely round and when the stylus reached a certain part in the rotation, it would jump inward several grooves. I tried heavier tracking but there was no difference. I sleeved it, put it away and basically forgot about it.

Pulling it out today, and remembering the sick feeling of having a wonderful record and not being able to play it, I thought I would try to track it at 33 rpm (45 rpm was still too fast)...and...it didn't jump the grooves! I had recently found out that Audacity software had a speed changer for those who wanted to record 78s but didn't have access to a 78 player.

The pairing of these 2 sides seem a little odd to me (maybe someone can explain it) but they were recorded in 1927 & 1931.

Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Bubber Miley, Louis Metcalfe t / Joe Nanton tb / Otto Hardwicke ss, as, bar / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Rudy Jackson cl, ts / Fred Guy bj / Wellman Braud sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on December 19, 1927.

Duke Ellington p, a, dir / Arthur Whetsel, Freddy Jenkins, Cootie Williams t / Joe Nanton tb / Juan Tizol vtb / Johnny Hodges cl, ss, as / Harry Carney cl, as, bar / Barney Bigard cl, ts / Fred Guy bj / Wellman Braud sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on June 16, 1931.