THE DUKE ELLINGTON BAND -- Southampton Princess Memories of big band days were revived with the return of the Duke Ellington Band to Bermuda for the first time in two decades.

Now led by the Duke's son, Mercer Ellington, the band entertained the 300 people at the Southampton Princess until the early hours of yesterday morning.

And the audience responded by dancing the night away at the Post Valentine Dance, arranged by Somers Lioness Club and Choy Aming Productions.

Ellington, spry and loose on stage at age 74, took the crowd in the huge ballroom into the past, aided by a 13-piece horn section and strong vocals from Naomi Onara.

Ellington opened with "A Train.'' "Satin Doll,'' a signature song of his father's, was used throughout the evening. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore,'' another Duke Ellington composition, was a highlight of the final set.

There is a waiting list to join the band, and seniority in the trombone section alone ranged from a few months to 32 years.

Stand-outs were Tommy James on piano and Shelley Carroll on saxophone, Carroll adding his vocals to two numbers, including "I Guess I'm Just a Lucky Soul.'' Ellington played until nearly 2 a.m., long after most of the dancers had quit and many had gone home.

Big bands have appeared in Bermuda at private conventions, but it was the first public performance by such an orchestra in more than 25 years, said promoter Choy Aming.

And Ellington says Southampton Princess has a special significance for this band. He said the first concert the band played after his father died in 1974 was at the Princess, at an IBM convention. "He passed away and they still honoured the contract,'' Ellington said. "We thought that show would be our last.'' But after the performance, requests poured in for more concerts in memory of Duke.

"After about a year and a half of that, then came the hard part,'' he said.

"They were no longer remembering Duke Ellington, and we had to get jobs on our own.'' Mercer played trumpet in his father's band for years.

"It was sort of like a realisation of a dream, because I always wanted to be in the band,'' he said. "I didn't get the job of being in the band fairly, though.'' Duke had lost his road manager, knew his son was experienced in that area, and asked if he would take the job. Mercer's conditions were a salary of $400 a week and a spot in the trumpet section.

"He stuck me up there on fifth trumpet,'' he recalled. "They didn't give me any music.'' But "little by little,'' he worked his way in and soon earned the fourth trumpet spot.

Mercer said there was no difference between his father's style and his own.

"I always felt that if there was such a difference, that I had failed,'' he said. He sees himself as "the keeper of the flame,'' which he hopes can one day be passed to the youngest of his three sons, 15-year-old Paul.

He has put his father's archives in the Smithsonian Institute and done his best to "make the cross-section of tapes as complete as possible.'' His father played in Bermuda about three times, he said.

Mercer "very seldom'' plays trumpet now, partly because caps in his teeth make it difficult. But when "we get a new man in and I want him to growl,'' he will pick up the horn. "There are not many people left who can tell him how to do it.'' Depending on the response to Saturday night's show, Aming said he would like to bring more Big Bands to the Island and a performance this summer by the Count Basie Orchestra under Frank Foster was a possibility.

PAUL EGAN