The Duke Plays Ellington

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4½ stars and stated "Ellington sounds modern (especially rhythmically and in his chord voicings) and shows that he could have made a viable career out of just being a pianist".[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

:All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated

1. "Who Knows?" - 2:37
2. "Retrospection" - 3:58
3. "B Sharp Blues" - 2:47
4. "Passion Flower" (Billy Strayhorn) - 3:05
5. "Dancers in Love" - 1:56
6. "Reflections in D" - 3:35
7. "Melancholia" - 3:20
8. "Prelude to a Kiss" (Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills) - 3:04
9. "In a Sentimental Mood" (Ellington, Mills, Manny Kurtz) - 2:30
10. "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" (Mercer Ellington) - 2:56
11. "All Too Soon" (Ellington, Carl Sigman) - 3:08
12. "Janet" - 2:15
13. "Kinda Dukish" - 2:32 Bonus track on CD reissue
14. "Montevideo" - 2:33 Bonus track on CD reissue
15. "December Blue" - 2:40 Bonus track on CD reissue

• Recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles on April 13 (tracks 1-8), April 14 (tracks 9-12), and December 3 (tracks 13-15), 1953.

• Duke Ellington – piano
• Wendell Marshall - bass
• Butch Ballard - drums (tracks 1-12)
• Dave Black - drums (tracks 13-15)
• Ralph Collier - congas (track 14)