GJC Big Band: Ellington Nutcracker Suite

Last year, the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band performed the Greenville premiere of the complete original score of the Duke Ellington re-creation of the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Suite.  Since then one of our most asked questions has been “Are you all doing the Nutcracker again this year”?

Great news…last year’s premiere is becoming this year’s holiday tradition!  Make it yours!

In 1960 Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arranged 9 of the original Tchaikovsky dances from his Nutcracker Suite for his big band.  But when Duke Ellington wrote for his band, he wrote every note with specific musicians (some of the greatest jazz musicians ever) in mind.

This places unusual demands on all the musicians in a band seeking to perform his Nutcracker Suite.  It’s not enough to just read the notes on the 3rd trumpet or lead alto part - each musician needs to create an interpretation that Duke might have expected from his great musicians like Ray Nance or Johnny Hodges.  That’s why this important work is rarely heard live and complete in its original score…it demands much from even the best of musicians!

The musicians of the Greenville Jazz Collective Big Band are stepping up to play the Ellington Nutcracker again this year.  And they will play a few other pieces of jazz holiday music as the perfect wrapper for this suite!  So it will definitely be a swinging, toe-tapping evening.

You’ll hear familiar melodies in a new way…even with new titles to match the imaginative twist put on them (can you guess what “Sugar Rum Cherry” is based on?).  Fanfares, tambourines, a bamboo whistle, and a hard-swinging rhythm section all make their appearances in this dreamworld “melting pot of musical styles past and present” (NY Times).  Truly, his 1960 Christmas gift for the ages!

Poe Mill Music is a performance venue (and recording studio) just over a mile northwest of downtown Greenville off of Pete Hollis (SC=183). (You’ve probably driven by it…but never noticed it).  Poe Mill is accessible (no steps) and offers plenty of onsite parking.

Admission is $30.00 through Eventbrite, or at the door until tickets are sold out (Poe Mill is smaller than last year’s venue, so the seats may go fast!)