In the first days of January 1973, Ellington made a short trip to Paris and London to record in three telecasts.
In London, he was interviewed on January 5 by Michael Parkinson for his famous BBC talk show Parkinson (aka Mike Parkinson Show).
The series begun in 1971 and run on and off until 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson_(TV_series)).
Many famous personalities appeared in the show but Ellington seems to have been the only one from the world of jazz.
The telecast with Ellington was aired on February 24, 1973 and the DESS website is happy to be able to let its visitors listen to the soundtrack.
The hour-long conversion between Parkinson and Ellington covered a lot of topics Many of them have been covered in other interviews but it is obvious that Ellington felt very relaxed with Parkinson and allowed his thoughts to flow freely.
At the end of the program, Ellington was invited to sit down at the piano. He chose to play a short version of Lotus Blossom after which the studio orchestra joined him in Satin Doll.
Enjoy the interview!