The Duke: The Columbia Years (1927-1962)

This accessible overview has noticeable gaps between each of its discs — the mid-fifties are missing, and so, noticeably, are the early forties, spent mainly on RCA. Things go missing — the instantly famous long Paul Gonsalves solo on “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,” from the 1956 Newport concert, easily the post-war Duke’s best-known number, at fifteen minutes would have upended the package. But it’s the most accessible version with the longest span.