The Nu Civilisation Orchestra will perform Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite at The Queen Elizabeth Hall on 3 June, 2022.
The piece was inspired by Ellington’s meeting with HRH in 1958. He composed a suite in celebration of the day and, to make it extra special, had it pressed as a single disc, which he presented to the Palace.
The Nu Civilisation Orchestra, led by MD Peter Edwards, will perform the suite and a new piece by the leader, with Gary Crosby joining them on stage on bass (the NCO contains several alumni of the Tomorrow’s Warriors programme, which Crosby co-founded, including heavy-hitters such as Rosie Turton, Denys Baptiste and Sheila Maurice-Grey).
Tickets: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
Saturday, 4 June, 2022
Ronnie Scott's Orchestra Present The Jubilee Jazz Jamboree, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club 47 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4HT
The Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra present a jubilee special to celebrate the Queen's platinum jubilee. They will play the rarely heard Queen's Suite plus other regal pieces such as Royal Ellington Party, Queenie Pie, Jubilee Stomp and music from jazz royalty such as Count Basie and Earl Hines.
One of the UK's finest big bands teeming with first-call players and appearing under the Musical Directorship of award winning band leader Peter Long.
Line-up (TBC): PETER LONG leader
Trumpets: Nathan Bray, George Hogg, Mark Armstrong, Freddy Gavita
Trombones: Andy Flaxman, Callum Au, Daniel Higham, Mark Frost
Saxophones: Adrian Revell, Kate Ingram, Dave O'Higgins, Chelsea Carmichael, Jessamy Holder
Piano: Rob Barron, Bass-Steve Pearce, Drums-Ed Richardson.
The History Behind the Queen’s Suite: ‘The Queen’s Suite, six songs Duke Ellington and his collaborator Billy Strayhorn composed for Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. Five of the six songs represent different musical landscapes—a grove full of fireflies, or a mockingbird singing at sunset—seen by Ellington in his travels around the world. Several of these, he wrote in his autobiography, represented some of the most moving moments of his life. It is a remarkable artistic achievement, even by the standards of such a prolific composer. But after recording it, he gave to the queen what he claimed was the only copy, refusing to release the album in his lifetime.
In 1958 Ellington made his way to the Leeds Festival for a command performance for the royal family. It was two years into the midcareer renaissance he and his band experienced after the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, when saxophonist Paul Gonsalves’ seemingly endless choruses on “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” had Newport’s subdued WASPs dancing so hard that the authorities feared a riot. Not long after, Ellington was on the cover of Time. It was also one year after Governor Orval Faubus and the Little Rock Nine, and Louis Armstrong’s interview in which he called Faubus a no-good motherfucker. Big bands had mostly died off by then, victims of inflation, television, the decline of dance halls, and the rise of rock. But Ellington’s persisted.
When he met the queen he seems to have been taken with her. Harvey G. Cohen, in his excellent book Duke Ellington’s America, describes the meeting:
Various reports confirm that they charmed each other. She asked when he first visited her country, and Ellington diplomatically replied, “1933, your Majesty, years before you were born.” She expressed regret concerning her inability to attend his concerts on the tour, at which point, according to Melody Maker, Ellington’s “face puckered into a huge smile.” “In that case, your Majesty, I’d like to write a very special composition for you—a real royal suite.”
A photo of the scene seems to have captured that very smile. Ellington beams, incandescent, perhaps an indication of a special moment in the life of a musician who had played for his share of grandees. In an interview some years later, he said, “I told her that she was so inspiring and that something musical would surely come of it. She said she would be listening, so I wrote an album for her.”
Shortly thereafter, he set himself (and Strayhorn, who composed “Northern Lights,” one of the songs from the suite) to writing. In early 1959 he took his compositions to the band, which turned in an impressive performance—better than average for the period. According to Gary Marmorstein, author of The Label: The Story of Columbia Records, “a master was prepared, a gold disc issued privately to the royal family—according to an agreement between Ellington and his producer, Irving Townsend—with Ellington retaining rights to release the entire Suite at a later date. Eventually Ellington reimbursed Columbia $2,500 in production costs to buy it back.” Jazz historian Gary Giddins has written that probably no one outside Ellington’s inner circle knew of The Queen’s Suite until two years after his death in 1974. It was released posthumously by Norman Granz. In 1976 it won a Grammy, along with two other suites.
Even for Ellington, this was unusual behavior. He was famous for constantly writing and recording music—it’s estimated he wrote anywhere between two thousand and five thousand pieces—and he kept a stockpile of unreleased recordings (many from the last decade of his life) so large that it dwarfed the output of many major artists. Much of the unreleased material was variously made up of experiments in new styles and general overflow, music that record labels wouldn’t take a chance on, whether because he had simply published too much or the work was deemed too artistically ambitious. Yet The Queen’s Suite seems to have been different. Though the album was never released in his lifetime, he did perform selections from it in concerts, and one of its songs, The Single Petal of a Rose, was widely requested. The connection to the queen likely would have made the album quite marketable. Ellington himself even seems to have had a particular personal investment in the work. According to Townsend, the composer worked harder on the piece than anything else he’d ever seen.’
From Secret Music on Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite by Christopher Carroll https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/music/secret-music
Book tickets here.
Harlem, The Carlton House Club, Olney MK46 4BB
WHAT TO EXPECT
A sampling of Duke Ellington’s extensive songbook
Music that uplifts, enlightens, and rewards everyone from first-time listeners to lifelong fans
There will be a pre-concert lecture at 7pm for each performance.
ABOUT THE CONCERT
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis closes the 2021-22 concert season with an audience favorite: an all-Ellington evening of musical masterpieces.
The possibilities are endless in an Ellington extravaganza like this. Over the course of six decades, Duke Ellington wrote well over 1,000 compositions, some of the richest and most enduring music of the past century. From his early days at the Cotton Club when Duke first took the world by storm with hits like “Creole Love Call” and “Black and Tan Fantasy” to his next wave of classics like “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Mood Indigo,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “In a Sentimental Mood,” Duke set the standard for concise songs in which every moment makes an impact.
Duke’s conceptual works—including his “Sacred Concerts” series and extended suites like Black, Brown & Beige, The Far East Suite, New Orleans Suite, and Latin American Suite—go even deeper. The music provides the ultimate canvas for a big band—and nobody plays it quite like the JLCO.
This program is presented through the generosity of Mica and Ahmet Ertegun.
American saxist and clarinetist, Frank Griffith, has been resident in the UK since 1996 and his Nonet have performed many Ellington and Strayhorn pieces throughout their career, with appearances at London Jazz Festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Cadogan Hall (celebrating the 100th anniversary of Billy Strayhorn's birth).
Frank has also worked with Sir John Dankworth, Dame Cleo Lane, Mel Torme and Lionel Hampton. Now residing in Liverpool, Frank plays frequently for Parr Street Jazz events, and performed at the 2020 Southport Jazz Festival with vocalist Tina May.
The concert will cover a wide span of Ellington and Strayhorn music from 1932 to 1966, including It Don’t Mean a Thing, Daydream, Satin Doll, Take The A Train, Lush Life and Rhumbop, as well as instrumental classics, such as Raincheck, Sophisticated Lady, It's Glory, Chelsea Bridge, I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart and C Jam Blues.
Details here.
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Duke Ellington- Music from the Sacred Concerts
The Clark Tracey Orchestra, the Choir of York Minster, St Peter's School Choir & Choral Society, soloists Teuta Koco and Mark Williams, and tap dancer Junior Laniyan
York Minster, 17:30
A spectacular Jazz Eucharist featuring music from Duke Ellington’s ‘Sacred Concerts’ will take place at York Minster on Wednesday 29 June at 5.30pm.
Hosted jointly by York Minster and St Peter’s School, York, the service will mark St Peter’s Day, the Patronal festival of both the cathedral and the school. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell will preach at the service.
Described by Ellington himself as 'the most important thing I have ever done', the ‘Sacred Concerts’ are a unique blend of jazz and choral classical music, with elements of gospel and the blues. Debuted in 1965 and rarely performed since, the Sacred Concerts feature big band, mixed choir and soloists who combine to produce powerful and evocative melodies celebrating spirituality and the Christian faith. St Peter’s School staged a performance of the Sacred Concerts in 2012.
In the magnificent setting of York Minster’s medieval Nave, the service will feature, the Clark Tracey Orchestra, the Choir of York Minster, St Peter's School Choir & Choral Society, soloists Teuta Koco and Mark Williams, and tap dancer Junior Laniyan.
Commenting on the service, The Revd Canon Victoria Johnson, Precentor at York Minster said: “This is an amazing opportunity to hear the sacred music of Duke Ellington in the context of Christian worship in one of the most magnificent cathedrals in the world. Ellington’s music is powerful and uplifting and is an incredibly fitting way to celebrate the new and vibrant partnership between York Minster and St Peter’s School, York, bringing together hundreds of musicians to lead our prayers and praises.
“This service, is for worshippers, jazz lovers, choral music fans, and anyone who enjoys great music and its potential to lift our spirits heavenward.”
Jeremy Walker, Head Teacher, St Peter’s School, York, said: “I am very excited about the prospect of the Ellington Mass in York Minster. It promises to be a wonderful service, full of joy and a perfect way to mark St Peter’s Day and the bond between School and Minster.”
Details here.
