Editing Duke Ellington (section)

===Early post-war years===
Musicians enlisting in the military and travel restrictions made touring difficult for the big bands, and dancing became subject to a new tax, which continued for many years, affecting the choices of club owners. By the time World War II ended, the focus of popular music was shifting towards singing crooners such as [[Frank Sinatra]] and [[Jo Stafford]]. As the cost of hiring big bands had increased, club owners now found smaller jazz groups more cost-effective. Some of Ellington's new works, such as the wordless vocal feature "Transblucency" (1946) with [[Kay Davis]], were not going to have a similar reach as the newly emerging stars.
[[File:Jazz musician Duke Ellington.JPEG|thumb|Ellington poses with his piano at the KFG Radio Studio on November 3, 1954]]

Ellington continued on his own course through these tectonic shifts. While [[Count Basie]], like many other big bands at the time, was forced to disband his whole ensemble and work as an octet for a time, Ellington was able to tour most of Western Europe between April 6 and June 30, 1950, with the orchestra playing 74 dates over 77 days.<ref name="Lawrence291">{{Harvnb|Lawrence|2001|p=291}}</ref> During the tour, according to Sonny Greer, Ellington did not perform the newer works. However, Ellington's extended composition, ''[[Harlem (Ellington)|Harlem]]'' (1950), was in the process of being completed at this time. Ellington later presented its score to music-loving President [[Harry Truman]]. Also during his time in Europe, Ellington would compose the music for a stage production by [[Orson Welles]]. Titled ''Time Runs'' in Paris<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3965054/Eartha-Kitt.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3965054/Eartha-Kitt.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Eartha Kitt: Singer who rose from poverty to captivate audiences around the world with her purring voice|date=December 26, 2008|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=December 14, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and ''An Evening With Orson Welles'' in [[Frankfurt]], the variety show also featured a newly discovered [[Eartha Kitt]], who performed Ellington's original song "Hungry Little Trouble" as [[Helen of Troy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stripes.com/news/eartha-kitt-wins-raves-in-welles-show-at-frankfurt-1.16046|title=Eartha Kitt wins raves in Welles' show at Frankfurt|author=Win Fanning |date=August 13, 1950|work=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]|access-date=December 14, 2014}}</ref>

In 1951, Ellington suffered a significant loss of personnel: Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and, most importantly, [[Johnny Hodges]] left to pursue other ventures. However, only Greer was a permanent departee. Drummer [[Louie Bellson]] replaced Greer, and his "Skin Deep" was a hit for Ellington. Tenor player [[Paul Gonsalves]] had joined in December 1950<ref name="Lawrence291"/> after periods with [[Count Basie]] and [[Dizzy Gillespie]] and stayed for the rest of his life, while [[Clark Terry]] joined in November 1951.<ref>Ken Vail ''Duke's Diary: The Life of Duke Ellington'', Lanham, Maryland & Oxford, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2002, p. 28.</ref>

[[André Previn]] said in 1952: "You know, [[Stan Kenton]] can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make a dramatic gesture and every studio arranger can nod his head and say, ''Oh, yes, that's done like this.'' But Duke merely lifts his finger, three horns make a sound, and I don't know what it is!"<ref>[[Ralph J. Gleason]] "Duke Excites, Mystifies Without Any Pretension", ''DownBeat'', November 5, 1952, reprinted in ''Jazz Perspectives'' Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2008, pp. 215–249.</ref> However, by 1955, after three years of recording for [[Capitol Records|Capitol]], Ellington lacked a regular recording affiliation.