Recorded in May and June 1959, Ellington’s score for the film Anatomy of a Murder was the first instance of his having to compose a work to fit the structural designs of others. To compound problems even further, Duke recorded the score twice, once for Columbia Records and then again for Columbia Pictures. LP producer Irving Townsend was free to avail himself of both sets of recordings, as were, presumably, the music editors of the film as well. Thus, because of this independence of action and decision-making, the film contains music not heard on the LP, and the LP used performances not included in the film. Moreover, there are also a few instances of variant versions of known themes that were unused by either medium. However, in the 12 additional tracks, this release brings together everything Duke recorded in connection with this project, thereby accounting for the great difference in the playing time of this CD and that of the LP.
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