Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-house recording label, will release a present-day recording of Duke Ellington’s groundbreaking masterpiece Black, Brown and Beige by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Captured during a live, Rose Theater performance in 2018, Black, Brown and Beige is Wynton Marsalis’s first recording of the work and Blue Engine’s first release dedicated entirely to Ellington. Black, Brown and Beige will be available exclusively on all digital platforms on March 6, 2020.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis explains, “Black, Brown and Beige sits alone in the history of jazz. It covers a mosaic of not just Afro-American but of American styles of music.” The expert musicians of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, alongside special guests Brianna Thomas (vocals) and Eli Bishop (violin), are perfectly equipped to tackle its stirring stylistic breadth. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s spirited take on Ellington’s epic work pays tribute to some of the maestro’s most personal work while adding another important chapter to its enduring legacy.
Since its 1943 debut at Carnegie Hall, the piece—a sprawling survey of African American history—has been heralded as one of the most significant compositions in American orchestral music. Now, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis is releasing a definitive, present-day recording of Black, Brown and Beige that conveys all the nuances and emotion of Ellington’s grandest work.
TRACK LISTING
I. Black
1. Work Song
Solos: Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Sam Chess (trombone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)
2. Come Sunday
Solos: Elliot Mason (trombone), Kasperi Sarikoski (trombone), Ted Nash (alto saxophone), Eli Bishop (violin), Dan Nimmer (piano), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)
3. Light
Solos: Marcus Printup (trumpet), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Elliot Mason (trombone), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)
II. Brown
4. West Indian Dance
Solos: Marion Felder (drums), Victor Goines (clarinet), Elliot Mason (trombone), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)
5. Emancipation Celebration
Solos: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Sam Chess (trombone), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Dan Nimmer (piano)
6. Blues Theme Mauve
Solo: Julian Lee (tenor saxophone)
III. Beige
7. Various Themes
Solos: Dan Nimmer (piano), Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Elliot Mason (trombone), Julian Lee (tenor saxophone)
8. Sugar Hill Penthouse
Solos: Dan Nimmer (piano), Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone), Julian Lee (tenor saxophone)
9. Finale
Solos: Dan Nimmer (piano), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone), Marcus Printrup (trumpet), Ryan Kisor (trumpet)
PERSONNEL:
THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS
2017-18 Concert Season
REEDS
Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)
Ted Nash (alto saxophone)
Victor Goines (tenor saxophone, clarinet)
Walter Blanding* (tenor saxophone)
Julian Lee (substitute for Walter Blanding)
Paul Nedzela (baritone saxophone)
TRUMPETS
Ryan Kisor
Marcus Printup
Kenny Rampton
Wynton Marsalis (music director)
Jonah Moss
TROMBONES
Vincent Gardner*
Chris Crenshaw*
Elliot Mason
Kasperi Sarikoski (substitute for Vincent Gardner)
Sam Chess (substitute for Chris Crenshaw)
RHYTHM SECTION
Dan Nimmer (piano, bells)
Carlos Henriquez (bass)
Marion Felder (drums)
James Chirillo (guitar)
Conductor:
Chris Crenshaw
Special Guests:
Eli Bishop (violin)
Brianna Thomas (vocals)
*Did not perform at this concert
About Blue Engine Records
Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences on to jazz. For more information on Blue Engine Records, visit www.jazz.org/blueengine