He's one of my faves. I consider him one of the few "geniouses" of jazz. I have about 20 CD's of his. There honestly is not a bad one among them. However I seem to play several more often then others: Black,Brown and Beige; The Ellington Suites; Piano in the Foreground. Whatever you do, just buy something of his. I agree that anything recorded before 1950 can sound relatively distant and lacking in the frequency extremes. If you have any jazz sensibility at all you will like this stuff alot.
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.