Let me share a press announcement that was not known to Ellington experts I’ve consulted. It states that Lester Young was slated to join Duke’s band in 1942! This never happened, of course; after Barney Bigard left Duke in early July 1942, he was replaced by one Chauncey Haughton. Don’t forget that Bigard played tenor sax as well as clarinet in the band, and tenorist Pres also played clarinet—so the replacement plan is not as strange as it might seem at first.
Fascinating.