Masterpieces 1926-1949

Long out of print, this four CD box with just-OK sound is nevertheless the best place to learn the Ellington pre-LP-era basics. (As I type, you can score one for five bucks on Discogs.) It’s a judiciously chosen intro to the greatest songbook in jazz, a masterful display; a lot of Blanton-Webster, as there should be, but each era of the Ellington Orchestra during its first half is accounted for. If there’s stuff missing — a lot is — it only demonstrates that songbook’s abundance.