The Duke Ellington Orchestra at the University of Dubuque -- February 11.
Friday, February 11, 7:30 p.m.
University of Dubuque's Heritage Center, 2255 Bennett Street, Dubuque IA
Performing from the repertoire of the world's most gifted and acclaimed musicians of all time, the Duke Ellington Orchestra takes the stage at the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center on February 11, paying tribute to this pivotal figure in jazz who, in the opinion of composers and historians Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld, is widely considered "the most significant composer of the genre.”
Born in Washington, D.C. in 1899, Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s, his orchestra toured Europe several times, and some of the jazz musicians who were members of Ellington's orchestra, such as saxophonist Johnny Hodges, are considered among the genre's all-time-finest players. Ellington melded them into the best-regarded orchestral unit in the history of jazz, with some members choosing to stay with the orchestra for several decades.
A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78-rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than 1,000 compositions, his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", that brought a Spanish tinge to big-band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly 30-year collaboration with composer/arranger/pianist Billy Strayhorn, with whom the artist composed multiple extended compositions, suites, and short pieces. Over the course of his career, Ellington earned 14 Grammy awards, three of which were posthumous, and a total of 24 nominations, and although the 75-year-old passed away in 1974, he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999. Among the most familiar of Ellington's cherished tunes are “It Don't Mean a Thing,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “Sophisticated Lady,” and “Satin Doll,” with additional United States chart-toppers including “Three Little Words,” “Cocktails for Two,” “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart,” and “Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me.”
Guests in the John and Alice Butler Hall on February 12, the members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra have been performing worldwide for the past 88 years under the guidance of three generations of the Ellington family. Ellington's grandson Paul Mercer Ellington had long been leading the orchestra and preserving the music and legacy of his legendary grandfather, and for the past three years – while Paul has been at New York University studying for a master's degree in film production – the talented alto-sax player, arranger, Howard University professor Charlie Young has been acting as the conductor.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra plays the University of Dubuque's Heritage Center at 7:30 p.m. on February 11, general admission begins at $19, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)585-7469 and visiting Dbq.edu/heritagecenter.
