Giacomo Smith's Big Band present Ellington's Nutcracker Suite

Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s near-40-year collaboration is one of the most consequential in the history of jazz music.

The two had an uncanny symbiosis that sometimes verged on telepathy. Normally, the shy Strayhorn worked tirelessly in the background while the debonair Ellington performed in the limelight for audiences worldwide. While the pair had already co-produced innumerable master works prior to the 1960s’ Nutcracker Suite, the release of this album marked the first time that Strayhorn appeared on the cover of an Ellington album. He is centre stage, seated next to the maestro and smiling serenely. In retrospect, Strayhorn had come up with the idea for the project and had arranged much of the music, so it made sense to have his name in bright lights on the cover. However, this first public suggestion was that Ellington was not the sole architect of his works.

This album is another first for Ellington, as it represents the first time he had reorchestrated the work of a major classical composer. He and Strayhorn adapt Tchaikovsky’s themes perfectly into the Ellingtonian swing style. There are bombastic, full-band performances in ‘Peanut Briddle Brigade’, contrasted with the sparse and mysterious ‘Sugar Rum Cherry’ and ‘Chinoiserie’. It is such a work of genius that you might even end up preferring it to the original.

This evening’s performance also features Smith’s original compositions and other rarities from Ellington and the big band canon.

Featuring - Giacomo Smith