Piano in the Background is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Columbia label in 1960.

[1] The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars and stated "designed to showcase a series of new arrangements for the Ellington Orchestra, it also offers the composer and bandleader as a pianist leading the band...

In all, this and the two discs that were reissued as companions to this one, Piano in the Foreground and Blues in Orbit, mark a highly creative and productive time in Ellington's long career".

[2] :All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated