As with most of Duke Ellington's arrangements, the key word here is "subtle". He constantly shifts instrumentation, phrasing and rhythms to create an extremely interesting tableau of sound. The drummer keeps a subtle but steady beat as the wind players weave in and out. It is easy to see how this would create in the mind of the listener the mysterious "Orient" that few of them had ever visited but most had preconceptions about from the movies of Rudolph Valentino and others.
It was also interesting to see in the video version that the melody is being played on a valve rather than a slide trombone. Since it is rarely used, it does add to the mysterious quality of the whole piece.
This is actually the first time I have heard this original version. I previously had heard numerous covers of the tune by others. My favorite of those is the one by Chicago from their "big band" album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1UebqSsg3c
Not nearly as subtle, but I love the driving Latin rhythm of that version!
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