The Blackbirds of 1928 collection, also done in 1932 and under the aegis of producer Jack Kapp, marks Ellington's second major project involving a star singer - in this case, a gaggle of them. Only the second "original cast" (in this case, near-original) album ever done, this prophetic project combined talent from Broadway's two Blackbirds revues (including Adelaide Hall, who returned to the band for "I Must Have That Man") with "race" superstars also under contract to Brunswick Records (like the Mills Brothers).
At this point, the four original Mills Brothers were billed as "Four Boys and a Guitar," and the sounds of other instruments on their records were strictly impersonations thereof performed by the Mills lads themselves. "Diga Diga Do" marks a rare exception to that rule - almost. For most of their portion of the disc, the orchestra drops out entirely and the four brothers continue to work in with guitar only. When they're finished, the wood-and-brass musicians return to the tune of a wailing soprano solo by Johnny Hodges.
