The Duke Ellington Center Big Band at The January Thaw Music Fest at Centenary Stage Company

"Duke Ellington: Composer Beyond Category" is an exciting, hand-clapping, finger-snapping, dynamic musical journey from the Jazz clubs of Harlem and the Apollo Theater, to the downtown night clubs and Broadway stages, with The Duke Ellington Center Big Band under the direction of Mercedes Ellington.

This all-Ellington program features legendary jazz/blues singers such as Antoinette Montague and a host of incredible international, NY, Broadway, Jazz, Blues and "Beyond Category" dancers and musicians! With Special Guest Star Andre De Shields, dance stars from the Broadway stage and championship ballroom competitions, and tap dance virtuosos all performing to a classic Duke Ellington score presented with a modern theatrical flair!...

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"Duke Ellington: Composer Beyond Category" is an exciting, hand-clapping, finger-snapping, dynamic musical journey from the Jazz clubs of Harlem and the Apollo Theater, to the downtown night clubs and Broadway stages, with The Duke Ellington Center Big Band under the direction of Mercedes Ellington.

This all-Ellington program features legendary jazz/blues singers such as Antoinette Montague and a host of incredible international, NY, Broadway, Jazz, Blues and "Beyond Category" dancers and musicians! With Special Guest Star Andre De Shields, dance stars from the Broadway stage and championship ballroom competitions, and tap dance virtuosos all performing to a classic Duke Ellington score presented with a modern theatrical flair!

Directed by dancer/choreographer/producer, Mercedes Ellington, Duke Ellington's granddaughter, this exciting musical production -- described by Ms. Ellington as "a cross between a Broadway theatrical musical revue and a jazz concert -- brings back fond memories and ignites new ones.

This is an entertaining, rip-roaring musical performance for Duke Ellington fans everywhere, and demonstrates why Ellington is ranked as America's most prolific 20th century composer and was hailed worldwide during his lifetime as "the Global Ambassador of Jazz and Peace!" - truly an artist and human being - 'beyond category.'

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