"Black, Brown and Beige": The Dunedin City Jazz Orchestra plays Duke Ellington

The August edition of the Dunedin Jazz Club features the luscious sounds of the Dunedin City Jazz Orchestra performing selections from Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown and Beige”, an extended suite or jazz symphony that was first performed at Carnegie Hall in 1943. At the time of its composition in 1942, Duke Ellington was the foremost jazz musician in America, having transcended his nightly residency at the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem for a series of successful national tours that sold out in every town. Although he was not the first jazz musician to perform at Carnegie Hall (Benny Goodman was bestowed that honour in 1938), the performance of “Black, Brown and Beige” marks his entry into the concert world of classical music. It is therefore fitting that the DCJO will perform a substantial portion of this work at Hanover Hall, the home of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, a hub for…