♪ ♪ (audience applauding and cheering) - One, two, three, four... (playing intro) (horns begin) (playing lead) (brass blares) (playing melody) (brass blares) (playing melody, cornet plays muted notes) (orchestra playing softly) (song continues) (song continues) (playing solo) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (audience applauds, trombone solo begins) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo ends, audience applauds) (resuming earlier melody) (playing muted notes) (song continues) (orchestra playing softly) (song continues) (playing longer notes) (song ends) (audience applauds and cheers) - Thank you very much-- thank you very much.

Thank you for coming out this evening.

We heard that Phil Scarff over here on the soprano saxophone.

(audience applauds and cheers) Jay Keyser over here on trombone.

(audience applauds and cheers) Thank you, thank you.

(applause stops) - All right!

Mark, thank you.

I need some more, uh, wah-wah mutes in my, in my life.

- There you go.

- That was incredible.

It's weird, because it's, like, you hear that, and, to me, that kind of is almost like peak Ellington sound.

It's almost defining-- like, why is that?

Like, where was he at in his career when he wrote this tune?

- This is early in his career-- he's been maybe, at this point, uh, composing and leading a band for about ten years.

Started out in Washington, D.C., which some of you may know.

And he wound up in Harlem and, uh, working at a place called The Cotton Club.

And that has a lot to do with the sound of the plunger, the growl sound, we would say.

- Now, in The Cotton Club, up on then 125th, right?

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

What would he have seen there, and who would have been showing up in those, uh, in that venue?

- Well, this was one of those things which was, uh, of, it's a product of its time.

The Cotton Club was run by gangsters.

We can say that because it's in the historical record.

Open only to-- in the heart of Harlem, mind you, the largest Black community in the nation at that point-- open only to white audiences, employing an all-Black staff, including the musicians and, and dancers, and anyone, uh, anybody who was in the entertainment business.

And what they would have, they would have been from what we would now call the glitterati set, the people who would show up on the, you know, the talk shows and all this kind of a thing.

Uh, and, uh, they would have been looking at a stereotyped version of Black culture, basically.

And in fact, Duke Ellington was asked to make what he, what they called, what the gangster overlord said, "Please make jungle music for us."

And so he was called Duke Ellington's Jungle Orchestra.

And that's where you get this growling sound.

Now, that could be seen as a very demeaning thing, which, of course, it was, but Ellington was a very clever fellow.

And he thought to himself, "That's an interesting sound.

I need more of it in my life."

- (laughs) - And so what he did was, he incorporated this in his tonal palette, his compositional palette, for the next 50 years.

And you're going to hear some later in a piece that's from the sacred music, where, we have the growl sound there, as well.

- What's, what's coming up next?

- Um, it's "I'm Beginning to See the Light."

This is one of his classic songs.

He wrote many songs, as well as instrumental numbers.

Comes from 1944, and it's gonna feature our wonderful vocalist, Grace Hughes.

- All right, we have some voice coming up now.

Please welcome vocalist Grace Hughes, everybody.

(audience applauds) (playing intro) - ♪ I never cared much for moonlit skies ♪ ♪ I never wink back at fireflies ♪ ♪ But now that the stars are in your eyes ♪ ♪ I'm beginning to see the light ♪ ♪ I never went in for afterglow ♪ ♪ Or candlelight on the mistletoe ♪ ♪ But now when you turn the lamp down low ♪ ♪ I'm beginning to see the light ♪ ♪ Used to ramble through the park ♪ ♪ Shadowboxing in the dark ♪ ♪ Then you came and caused a spark ♪ ♪ That's a four-alarm fire now ♪ ♪ I never saw rainbows in my wine ♪ ♪ I never made love by lantern shine ♪ ♪ But now when your lips are burning mine ♪ ♪ I'm beginning to see the light ♪ (guitar playing solo) (solo continues) (solo continues) ♪ Used to ramble through the park ♪ ♪ Shadowboxing in the dark ♪ ♪ Then you came and caused a spark ♪ ♪ That's a four-alarm fire now ♪ ♪ I never made love by lantern shine ♪ ♪ I never saw rainbows in my wine ♪ ♪ But now when your lips are burning mine ♪ ♪ I'm beginning to see the light ♪ ♪ I'm beginning to see the light ♪ ♪ I'm beginning ♪ ♪ To see ♪ ♪ The light ♪ (song continues) (final chord strums, song ends) (audience cheers and applauds) HARVEY: Grace Hughes.

Grace Hughes, everybody.

Richard Nelson on guitar.

Jesse Williams on string bass.

Thank you very much.

Grace Hughes and the trio.

Thank you.

I need to make a-- I had an omission before we... We were so busy talking about, talking about the growl trumpets, I forgot to acknowledge Mr. Taylor Ho Bynum, who played the growl trumpet there magnificently on the first tune.

(audience applauding) Now we would like to do a tune with the full orchestra.

This is called "Come Sunday," and again featuring Grace Hughes.

"Come Sunday."

(audience applauding) (playing intro) (intro continues) - ♪ Lord ♪ ♪ Dear Lord above ♪ ♪ God almighty ♪ ♪ God of love ♪ ♪ Please look down ♪ ♪ And see my people ♪ ♪ Through ♪ ♪ Lord ♪ ♪ Dear Lord above ♪ ♪ God almighty ♪ ♪ God of love ♪ ♪ Please look down ♪ ♪ And see my people ♪ ♪ Through ♪ ♪ I believe ♪ ♪ That God put sun and moon ♪ ♪ Up in the sky ♪ ♪ I don't mind ♪ ♪ The gray skies ♪ ♪ 'Cause they're just clouds ♪ ♪ Passing by ♪ ♪ Lilies ♪ ♪ Of the valley ♪ ♪ They neither ♪ ♪ Toil nor spin ♪ ♪ Come Sunday, Lord ♪ ♪ Come Sunday ♪ ♪ Now, that's ♪ ♪ That's the day ♪ ♪ God, please hear our prayers ♪ ♪ And wipe the tears ♪ ♪ From our eyes ♪ ♪ Give us hope ♪ ♪ To see you ♪ ♪ In a world ♪ ♪ Of compromise ♪ ♪ Our brothers ♪ ♪ And our sisters ♪ ♪ They all ♪ ♪ Need you, too ♪ ♪ Come Sunday, Lord ♪ ♪ Come Sunday ♪ ♪ Now, that's ♪ ♪ That's the day ♪ (orchestra playing softly) (playing solo) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (audience applauding) ♪ Often we'll ♪ ♪ Feel weary ♪ ♪ But he knows ♪ ♪ Our every care ♪ ♪ Go to him ♪ ♪ In secret ♪ ♪ He will hear ♪ ♪ Your every prayer ♪ ♪ Lilies ♪ ♪ Of the valley ♪ ♪ They neither ♪ ♪ Toil nor spin ♪ ♪ Come Sunday, Lord ♪ ♪ Come Sunday ♪ ♪ Now, that's ♪ ♪ That's the day ♪ (playing softly) ♪ The day, the day, the day ♪ (song ends) (audience applauding) HARVEY: Grace Hughes.

Grace Hughes.

Jesse Williams on the string bass.

(audience applauding) Grace Hughes.

One of the things about Ellington and the Ellington Orchestra was, they traveled the world for many decades, making friends and, you know, sort of, being official and unofficial cultural ambassadors for the United States.

And then the music flowed the other way.

They heard things on their travels, and they tried to put this into their music in one way or another.

And in order to do this piece justice-- this is from 1971, now, about, uh, 20, 30 years later, after "Caravan"-- we've enlisted the talents of a wonderful pianist.

Ellington was a pianist, obviously, but he often didn't actually play that much with the band.

You listen to some recordings, you say, "Where's the piano?"

Well, he was conducting or doing something.

And so other times, he was playing the piano.

And when he did this, one of the roles he took was to set the, the tempo and the flavor of what was gonna happen.

And so we've asked one of the best people in the business that we know, also happens to be a wonderful friend of ours, Mr. Tim Ray, to come in and do that, evoking the fluorescence of Ellington.

And so we're gonna start off the "Chinoiserie" with a little riki tiki, as Ellington would say, by Tim Ray.

Please welcome Tim Ray.

(audience applauding) (applause stops) (song begins) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (saxophones join in) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (playing solo) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (audience applauding trombone solo begins) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo ends, audience applauding) (song ends) (audience cheers and applauds) HARVEY: Tim Ray over here on the piano.

Chris Rakowski on the saxophone over here.

Bob Pilkington on trombone over here.

The whole Aardvark Jazz Orchestra.

(audience applauding) Thank you very much, thank you.

Uh, we're going to do another tune now, obviously, and it's called "Blues to Be There," which most scholars agree was written by Billy Strayhorn.

This will feature, again, Mr. Tim Ray playing what, something that Ellington loved, the blues.

(playing intro solo) (percussion begins) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (saxophones begin, audience applauds) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (tempo slowing) (playing solo) (audience applauding) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (audience applauding, solo begins) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo continues) (audience applauding, song continues) (saxophones resume) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (brass resumes) (song continues) (song ending) (song ends) (audience applauding) HARVEY: Thank you, thank you.

Tim Ray, Tim Ray over here.

Daniel Ian Smith over here.

Taylor Ho Bynum over there.

The whole Aardvark Jazz Orchestra-- thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

(applause stops) This next piece, we're going to turn the piano over to, the stage over to Mr. Tim Ray by himself, to play this wonderful rendition of an Ellington solo piece called "New World A'Comin'."

The title refers to a future place on earth, at sea, or in the air where there will be no war, no greed, no categorization, and where love is unconditional and where there is no pronoun good enough for God.

(audience applauding) (song begins) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (new melody and tempo begin) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (tempo slowing) (variation on first section playing) (song continues) (song continues) (song continues) (song ends) (audience applauding) HARVEY: Tim Ray, Tim Ray.

(audience applauding) Tim Ray, Tim Ray over here.

Now we would like to do a piece for you now.

It's a mini-suite.

It's from the "Second Sacred Concert."

Duke Ellington wrote three sacred concerts, and this is a piece called "It's Freedom."

We usually do this with about an 80-voice choir, and we recorded it with that, but tonight, you'll have to sing.

No, I'm only kidding-- I'm just kidding.

But you will hear in the instrumental music the word "freedom," "freedom" over and over again.

That was intentional on Ellington's part.

So here, "It's Freedom."

And there will be a couple of narrations that I will read that were in fact authored by Mr. Ellington, and he read them in his concerts, so you'll hear that as we go along.

Here we go with "It's Freedom."

(snapping): One, two, a-one, two, three, four... (piece begins) (rest of orchestra joins in, playing note pairs) (muted trombone playing lead) (piece continues) (muted trombone playing solo) (solo continues, others playing note pairs) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo ends) (playing note pairs, muted trombone lead resumes) (music stops) "Freedom" is a word that is spoken and sung loudly and softly all around the world and in many languages.

The word "freedom" is used for many purposes.

It is sometimes even used in the interest of freedom.

(playing slowly and softly) (others join in, muted trombone lead continues) (piece continues) (piece continues) (lead continues) (piece continues) (piece continues) (trombone lead continues) (lead continues) (play closing flourish) (section ends) (winds playing soft duet) Let us think of freedom as it was enjoyed by Billy Strayhorn.

Billy Strayhorn lived by four major moral freedoms: freedom from hate, unconditionally; freedom from self-pity; freedom from fear of possibly doing something that might benefit someone else more than it would him; and freedom from the kind of pride that could make someone feel better than his brothers or sisters.

(piece continues softly) (section ends) A-one, two, one, two, three, four.

(snapping softly) (first-section tempo resumes) (guitar playing lead, others playing note pairs) (piece continues) (guitar playing solo) (solo continues) (others playing note pairs) (solo continues) (note pairs playing) (solo continues) (section ending) (trombones playing discrete notes) (all playing discrete notes) (piece ends) (audience cheers and applauds) Thank you.

Thank you very much-- for Duke Ellington.

Bill Lowe here on the bass trombone throughout the piece.

(audience cheers and applauds) Richard Nelson on the guitar.

(audience applauding) - So, this is the point of the evening where I'm supposed to say something like, "That's our show," and, "Give it up for Mark Harvey and the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra," but I'm not going to do that because I can still swing it for a minute, and I think you can, too.

Right?

(audience applauding, agreeing) Okay?

(audience cheering) An encore is in order, right?

Do you want that?

Can we get one more?

One more?

Thank you.

- We think you'll recognize this.

Thanks for coming out and being a great audience.

As Duke Ellington would have said, we love you madly.

(audience chuckles) (snapping): A-one, two, one, two, ready, go.

(piano and bass begin) (orchestra joins in) (song continues) (song continues) (trumpet playing lead) (song continues) (piano playing solo) (solo continues) (solo continues) (solo ends, audience applauding) (song continues) (piano playing solo) (bass and percussion play closing note) (audience cheers and applauds) Thank you very much.

Grace, Grace Hughes over here.

Chris Rakowski, Phil Scarff, Peter Bloom, Daniel Ian Smith, Dan Zupan, Tim Ray, Harry Wellott, Jesse Williams, Richard Nelson, Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser, Bill Lowe, KC Dunbar, Jeanne Snodgrass, Taylor Ho Bynum.

Thank you very much from the entire Aardvark Jazz Orchestra.

Thank you, thank you.

(audience cheers, whistles, and applauds) (applause continues) BENNETT: Thanks so much to the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra and its founder and music director, Mark Harvey!

(audience cheers and applauds) And thanks to JazzBoston for collaborating with us to bring you this tribute to the Duke.

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