No matter what Ellington’s orchestra plays it comes across as goombah gangster music. Him and Basie. It’s just that the big band jazz sound for the most part evolved during a particular period in our history and resonated with it. It’s still fascinating stuff. High living by lowlifes, gun molls and strong arm tactics and deals where if you didn’t come through you didn’t get to stick around to see the rest of the ballgame and you ended up leaving under pretty horrific circumstances.
Duke Ellington’s mind was overflowing with music his whole life. You really can’t hear any of that gangster culture in any of his or Billy’s compositions. It’s the same, in a different way, with Basie. Happy music for all his years.