Duke Ellington's “Nutcracker Suite” is “a marvel”

[The Definitive Duke Ellington; Sony 61444 (2000)]

Jazzin' The Classics With Larry Clinton
Posted by BG on March 10, 2008

“As a long-time fan of big band music, I’ve found that even though I pretty much like it all, there are some specific types that have always held special appeal. One of my favorite is the music that results when a band plays modern arrangements of timeless classical pieces, a practice that was known in the early days as ‘jazzin’ the classics’.

Although a lot of purists didn’t like the practice, it’s something that’s been pretty common through the years, and a lot of very good jazz musicians have tried it at one time or another. Some of my favorites include Glen Gray, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington, whose reworking of 'Nutcracker Suite' is a marvel.” Full Post [Duke Ellington is profiled at AfriClassical.com]

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Nutcracker+Suite" rel="tag">Nutcracker Suite
Classical+Music" rel="tag">Classical Music
Jazzin'+Classics" rel="tag">Jazzin' Classics
African-American+Composer" rel="tag">African-American Composer
Black+Composer" rel="tag">Black Composer