Take the "A" Train recorded an intentionally inept interpretation of the song under the pseudonym Darlene Edwards. In 1999, National Public Radio included this song in the "NPR 100", in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. Take the "A" Train "Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). When ASCAP
Duke Ellington discography Beige." This era also saw the appearance of the "Liberian Suite" and his highly regarded recordings featuring Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster, "the best Ellington band" according to critic Bob Blumenthal. 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Ellington began the 1950s losing Sonny Greer, Johnny Hodges, and Lawrence Brown (the latter two later rejoined). The second half of the 1950s, however, feature his famous "comeback" appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, with Paul Gonsalves running through 27 choruses of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue." 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 In