Sign-up for presale tickets here

Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s near 40 year collaboration is one of the most consequential in the history of jazz music.

The two had an uncanny symbiosis that sometimes verged on telepathy. Normally, the shy Strayhorn worked tirelessly in the background while the debonair Ellington performed in the limelight for audiences worldwide.

While the pair had already coproduced innumerable master works prior to 1960’s Nutcracker Suite, the release of this album marked the first time that Strayhorn appeared on the cover of an Ellington album. He is center stage, seated next to the maestro and smiling serenely.

In retrospect, Strayhorn had come up with the idea for the project and had arranged much of the music so it made sense to have his name in bright lights on the cover. However, this is the first public suggestion that Ellington was not the sole architect of his works.

This album is another first for Ellington as it represents the first time he had re-orchestrated the work of a major classical composer. He and Strayhorn adapt Tchaikovsky’s themes perfectly into the Ellingtonian swing style. There are bombastic full band performances in “Peanut Briddle Brigade” contrasted with the sparse and mysterious “Sugar Rum Cherry” and “Chinoiserie”. It is such a work of genius that you might even end up preferring it to the original.

This evenings performance will also feature Smith’s original compositions and other rarities from Ellington and the big band canon.