Duke Ellington did not begin his career as the proprietor of a big band. The group called the Washingtonians was a quintet when Ellington took it to New York in 1923, and it wasn't until he had been there a few years that it expanded to ten pieces and, eventually, 15 or more. Throughout his career, he returned to the small band, for recording purposes often designating sidemen as leaders. Thus were born such classics as "Day Dream," "Good Queen Bess," and "Subtle Slou… MORE