CRJO Performs Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite Night One!

6:30PM & 8:30PM

CRJO Performs Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite Night One!

($20-$30 | 6:30pm & 8:30pm shows) A Century Room holiday tradition, the CRJO will be playing Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s arrangement of The Nutcracker Suite plus other Ellington classics!

THE NUTCRACKER SUITE

The original cover for the 1960 big band album, “The Nutcracker Suite,” presented three people as the authors, all with equal font size and inhabiting the same line: “Ellington. Strayhorn. Tchaikovsky.” It was as if to announce a convergence of historical import, like a world summit or long-awaited crossover comic. This was not just any old Christmas album, that commercial phenomenon of repackaging holiday hits. By adapting Tchaikovsky’s score for jazz orchestra, Ellington was poised to both widen the appeal of his band and cement his status as a genius composer.

THE CENTURY ROOM JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Inspired by the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the 17-piece CRJO performs classic big band repertoire every Monday night at the Century Room! The CRJO is an intergenerational big band that features professional musicians, educators and students performing together.