Tachtig jaar geleden mocht het orkest van Duke Ellington als eerste grote jazzorkest optreden in de prestigieuze Carnegie Hall in New York.
In 1977 kwam hiervan een vierdelig live-album uit, dat later op twee CD’s werd uitgebracht. Hier vind je de tracklist en de samenstelling van het orkest. De opvallendste compositie daarbij was de creatie van “Black, Brown, and Beige”, een omvangrijk werk dedicated to telling the story of African-Americans, and the place of slavery and the church in their history. In this, he was helped by Billy Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with classical music than Ellington. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, few had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington’s work. Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington’s longer works were generally not well received.
dagelijks iets degelijks 