by Kevin McLaughlin
On April 29, the world will celebrate Duke Ellington’s musical mastery on the 125th anniversary of his birth. A sophisticated giant of American music, Ellington wrote and performed as leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 until his death in 1974.
It was a double privilege, then, to experience the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in EJ Thomas Hall on Saturday, April 20. First, to hear the JLCO again in Akron “after forty years” (according to Marsalis), and second, to hear this ensemble perform the Ellington book at the very highest level of technical skill and as mindful stewards of jazz tradition.