In 1960, some 68 years after Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky penned his famous The Nutcracker ballet, Duke Ellington and his band were in residency in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel. While there, Ellington and his longtime collaborator, composer, and arranger, Billy Strayhorn received a call from Columbia Records producer, Irving Townsend. Townsend offers Ellington complete freedom to write and record anything he wants if he signs with the Columbia label. Duke suggests a concept to create music that cant be categorized. Since Ellington likes to perform dance music and Tchaikovsky's work is a ballet, Strayhorn suggests they reinvent the holiday classic, The Nutcracker Suite.
The Christmas Eve setting of The Nutcracker Suite and its message of, Dreams can come true if you believe, made the Romantic-era Russian ballet a favorite holiday tradition then as it remains today. The similarities in challenges for both Tchaikovsky and Ellington, audiences craving variety, shifts in mood and style, and yet a sense of continuity, gave the project its legs.By May 1960, the work was completed. It would be the first time Billy Strayhorn's name would share equal billing with Duke Ellington.
The Christmas season concerts and accompanying album were a commercial success. Critics and audiences delighted in Ellington and Strayhorn's jazzy recasting of the familiar classical themes. They marveled at how well the duo recreated the work - turning it into a jazz masterpiece of equal parts Tchaikovsky and Ellington. Despite being conceived in 1960 and debuted at Christmas of that year, the musical scores themselves weren't published until 2010.
https://www.thejazzstation.org/shows
Four shows, Friday and Saturday at 5:30 and 8.
The Holiday Orchestra
Jonathan Corona alto sax
Fred Forney trumpet
Alexis Garnica trumpet
Chris Shuttleworth trombone
Alex Hunter trombone
Matt Ingman trombone
Paul Krueger trumpet
Joe Manis tenor sax
Ken Mastrogiovanni drums
Torrey Newhart piano
Steve Owen director, alto sax/clarinet
Devin Perez trumpet
Sean Peterson bass
Dan Cathey clarinet/tenor sax
Devin Wright baritone sax/bass clarinet