Paul Gonsalves was born in Brockton in 1920, grew up in New Bedford, and came to local renown as a member of the Sabby Lewis Orchestra. Pianist Paul Broadnax recalls the young Gonsalves as an incredible player who could lift a whole band. He was full of ideas, very advanced. You knew he was going places. Gonsalves' first professional engagement in Boston was on tenor saxophone with the Sabby Lewis band, in which he played both before and after his military service during World War II. On leaving Lewis he played with Count Basie from 1946-49, was briefly with Dizzy Gillespie, and then joined Duke Ellington in 1950. Gonsalves remained with Ellington for the rest of his life, his occasional absences from the band resulting from his addiction to alcohol and narcotics. Like many other would-be Ellingtonian tenor players, Gonsalves began by learning Ben Webster's "Cottontail" solo note for note, but quickly established his own distinctive style. The circumstance which made Gonsalves' reputation was his appearance with Ellington at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, when his storming, 27-chorus bridge between the opening and closing sections of "Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue" helped to focus media attention on the band and provided the basis of Ellington's "comeback". Thereafter, Gonsalves was obliged to play extended gallery-pleasing, up-tempo solos every night, a fact which overshadowed his enormous affinity with ballads. Gonsalves' relaxed and thoughtful approach to tunes displayed a love for melody and an ability to develop long, clean and logical solo lines. His rhapsodic playing on Ellington performances such as "Happy Reunion", "Chelsea Bridge", "Solitude" and "Mount Harissa" from the Far East Suite all testify to his vulnerable, often tender sound. His playing on records made outside the Ellington aegis is usually of a similarly reflective nature. A 1970 album with Ray Nance, "Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin", is a good example, including a marvellous performance of "Don't Blame Me". Gonsalves surpassed even this on Love Calls, his 1967 album of duets with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, where he delivers what might well be the definitive version of this song. In such performances, the quality of the playing perhaps reflect the man himself: Gonsalves was a sensitive yet fragile human being. He succumbed to drug addiction and alcohol dependence early in life and his career was afterwards dogged by these twin perils. When he died in London, in May 1974, his employer for close on a quarter of a century was himself too ill to be told. Ellington died a few days later and the bodies of both men, and that of Tyree Glenn, lay together in the same New York funeral home.

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Ellington at Newport is a 1956 jazz live album by Duke Ellington and his band, recording their historic concert at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Duke and his band had slipped in popularity with the rise of bebop, the jazz style which was developed by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk, among others. Many big bands had folded completely by the mid-1950s, but Duke had kept his band working, occasionally doing shows in ice-skating rinks to stay busy. The Duke Ellington Orchestra had done some European tours during the early 1950s, and Duke was chiefly supporting the band himself through royalties earned on his popular compositions of the 1920s to 1940s.
Duke and his orchestra arrived to play at the Newport Jazz Festival at at time when jazz festivals were a fairly new venue. The crowds in those days were quite sedate with the typical concert-going crowd of today. The first few numbers, including "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Tea for Two" were played without a few of the band's members as they were unable to be found at the start of the show.
After some performances by other players at the festival, the remainder of the band was located and the real performance began. Duke led off with "Take the 'A' Train", followed by a new composition of Duke and Billy Strayhorn's which was a three-part suite. The first movement was entitled "Festival Junction". The second was called "Blues to Be There" and the final movement was named "Newport Up". This suite was intended to be the showstopper, but the reception was not as enthusiastic as was hoped.
Following the Newport Suite, Duke called for Harry Carney's baritone saxophone performance of "Sophisticated Lady". Then the orchestra played "Day In, Day Out". Following this, Duke announced that they were pulling out an older number from their well-known songbook entitled "Diminuendo in Blue, and Crescendo in Blue." This was a two-part number which was separated by an improvised interval, which Duke announced would be played by Paul Gonsalvez on the tenor saxophone.
It was this number which would change the Duke Ellington Orchestra's reputation and fortunes for the rest of Duke's career until his death in 1974. During the solo interval by Paul Gonsalves, he played a once-in-a-lifetime 27-chorus improvised solo which was so powerful, that the normally sedate crowd was on their feet dancing in the aisles. A woman in a black dress got up on the stage and began to dance. When the solo ended and Gonsalvez collapsed in exhaustion, the orchestra resumed with a fiery performance of the second half of the tune.
After that performance, pandemonium took over. Duke calmed the crowd by announcing, "If you've heard of the saxophone, then you've heard of Johnny Hodges." Duke's best known alto saxophonist then played two of his most famous numbers in "I Got it Bad, and That Ain't Good" followed by "Jeep's Blues." Still the crowd refused to disperse so Duke called for Ray Nance to sing "Tulip or Turnip." The festival's organizers tried to cut off the show at this point but once again were met with angry refusals to end this magical evening.
Duke told the announcer that he would end the show and wanted to thank the audience but instead announced he had a "very heavy request for Sam Woodyard in "Skin Deep." This drum solo feature was the final number featured, followed by a farewell from Duke over "Mood Indigo". In his farewell, he thanked the crowd for the "wonderful way in which you've inspired us this evening." He then finished with his trademark statement, "You are very beautiful, very lovely and we do love you madly." With that, the historic show concluded.
Columbia Records recorded the concert and an album soon followed. Duke appeared soon after on the cover of Time Magazine and his resurgence of popularity lasted throughout the rest of his life. Some of his best albums occurred during the next decade and a half, until age and illness began to claim some of Duke's band members.