...And His Mother Called Him Bill
1968 studio album by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
...And His Mother Called Him Bill is a studio album by Duke Ellington recorded in the wake of the death of his long-time collaborator, Billy Strayhorn, in 1967. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1968, Ellington's third consecutive victory in this category, following Ellington '66 and the Far East Suite.
Background
Ellington recorded the album as a tribute to Billy Strayhorn, who had died of esophageal cancer in May 1967. Strayhorn was a composer, arranger, and pianist and one of Ellington's closest friends. Ellington's biographer John Edward Hasse notes that Strayhorn's death "was more traumatic to the Ellington orchestra than that of anyone else in the history of the organization."
Recording and music
The album was recorded in August and November 1967. The material consists of Strayhorn's compositions, including some that had not previously been recorded. Ellington chose the songs to demonstrate Strayhorn's versatility and range, as well as to pay homage to the qualities that he most admired in his late writing partner.
"Blood Count" was Strayhorn's last composition, written for the Ellington Orchestra's 1967 concert at Carnegie Hall. Another piece with a medical-related title is "U.M.M.G.", short for "Upper Manhattan Medical Group". The 1951 composition "Rock Skippin' at the Blue Note" showcases Cootie Williams, Jimmy Hamilton, and John Sanders.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1968 studio album by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q426159. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1968 and 1951.
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This entry incorporates text from “...And His Mother Called Him Bill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.