Kirkland Performance Center presents...

SRJO: Count Basie meets Duke Ellington

  • Sunday, October 6, 2019 2:00PM
  • Adult: $50.00
  • Youth: $20.00

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Description

The opening concert of SRJO’s 25th Anniversary season promises to be swingin’ as SRJO plays pieces from the first famous meeting of the two greatest big bands in jazz history-—the Count Basie and Duke Ellington orchestras. Selections from their classic 1961 album, “First Time! The Count Meets the Duke” include the swinging Blues in Hoss’ Flat, the beautiful To You, the exotic Wild Man Moore, the exciting Battle Royal, and of course the Duke’s theme song, Take the “A” Train. Two of our great saxophonists, Travis Ranney and Mark Taylor, face off in a classic tenor battle with Neal Hefti’s Whirly Bird and we round out the show with other hits recorded by each band. Join SRJO as we show how these supreme giants of the jazz world were so different from one another, yet were so equally gifted.


Artist Bio

The award-winning, 17-piece Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) is the Northwest’s premier big band jazz ensemble, co-directed by drummer Clarence Acox, nationally recognized director of bands at Seattle’s Garfield High School, and saxophonist/arranger Michael Brockman, long-time faculty member at the University of Washington School of Music.

The ensemble includes many of the region’s best-loved jazz soloists and bandleaders, and their extensive and growing repertoire is drawn from the 100-year history of jazz, from turn-of-the-20th century ragtime to turn-of-the-21st century avant-garde.

Recently, the cities of Seattle and Kirkland and the state of Washington proclaimed October 4th “Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra Day” in honor of the organization’s achievements. Their newest compact disc, “Benny Carter’s Kansas City Suite,” which features narration from Clarence Acox and a performance by the late Hadley Caliman, was released in November 2014 and has already achieved wide sales throughout the region. For more information about the SRJO, visit srjo.org.

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Genre Tags: Jazz

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