Aardvark Jazz Orchestra Salute To Duke at WGBH Fraser Performance Studio

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will continue its historic 51st season with a Salute to Duke Ellington. Called “stunningly beautiful” (The New York City Jazz Record) and “spellbinding” (The Boston Globe), Aardvark will celebrate Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday year with a panoramic view of the Maestro’s music from the 1920s Cotton Club period, to Swing-era classics, to movements from late-period Suites and Sacred Concerts. JazzTimes praised Aardvark’s “lush sonorities and a saxophonic blend worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections,” while Jazz Podium (Germany) called Aardvark “one of the best jazz ensembles in the world.” ...

read more

The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will continue its historic 51st season with a Salute to Duke Ellington. Called “stunningly beautiful” (The New York City Jazz Record) and “spellbinding” (The Boston Globe), Aardvark will celebrate Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday year with a panoramic view of the Maestro’s music from the 1920s Cotton Club period, to Swing-era classics, to movements from late-period Suites and Sacred Concerts. JazzTimes praised Aardvark’s “lush sonorities and a saxophonic blend worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections,” while Jazz Podium (Germany) called Aardvark “one of the best jazz ensembles in the world.”

Aardvark vocalist Grace Hughes will take center stage in the hit tune “I’m Beginning to See the Light” as well as “Come Sunday,” the modern spiritual portion of the composer’s magnum opus “Black, Brown, and Beige.” Pianist Tim Ray will be featured with the band in Duke’s expansive orchestral music, and in a solo rendition of Ellington’s “New World A’Comin’,” one of his most personal and optimistic compositions.

Aardvark’s many stellar soloists will be heard to advantage on wide-ranging selections: “Caravan” by Duke and Juan Tizol; “Blues to Be There,” a Billy Strayhorn collaboration from The Newport Jazz Festival Suite, “Chinoiserie,” from The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse Suite, and “It’s Freedom,” from the Second Sacred Concert. Also on the program will be Mark Harvey’s anthem of inclusivity “No Walls,” inspired by Ellington’s credo to move “beyond category” in life as in music.

Founded in 1973, Aardvark is one of the longest running large jazz ensembles in the world. The orchestra has premiered 200 works and has released 16 CDs, including 10 discs on Leo Records, a leading independent label. Aardvark guest artists have included such luminaries as Ricky Ford, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Jay Clayton, and Jaki Byard. Aardvark is known for original works by founder/director Mark Harvey, and a long tradition of showcasing Duke Ellington’s vast repertoire. Among its many Ducal commemorations, Aardvark celebrated the Ellington centennial on April 24, 1999, in a performance at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium recorded by WGBH (with excepts captured in Aardvark’s CD Duke Ellington/Sacred Music on Aardmuse Recordings). “Aardvark and Ellington are an ideal couple” (AllAboutJazz.com). Aardvark is managed by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, director, rhd at amwks dot com

show less