Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-house record label, releases Essentially Ellington 2027, featuring the peerless Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest musicians performing seminal compositions by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Wynton Marsalis.
Essentially Ellington 2027 is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2026–27 season, Come Home, an expansive celebration of the music, vision, and influence of Wynton Marsalis, the organization’s founder and driving force for nearly 40 years.
Available on all streaming platforms, the recording serves as a resource for high school jazz ensembles from thousands of schools in 63 countries that participate in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s signature education initiative, the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program.
The tracks on Essentially Ellington 2027 capture a handful of the 12 songs newly inducted into the EE canon; their scores are freely available to all members of the 2027 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program. Eight of those songs—four of which appear on this album—were written by Marsalis and represent his first entries into the EE library. They were drawn from his massive and influential catalog.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program is dedicated to transcribing, preserving, and distributing the music of iconic jazz composers to aspiring musicians. Each year, the world-class Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra records the newly added compositions to the EE library so that high school musicians all over the globe can utilize the reference recordings.
The 2027 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival will take place May 6-8, 2027. The festival will include workshops, jam sessions, and performances, culminating in a final concert and awards ceremony on May 8.
PERSONNEL
THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA
Conductor/Leader: Chris Crenshaw
Reeds: Sherman Irby: alto & soprano sax, clarinet
Alexa Tarantino: alto & soprano sax, flute, clarinet
Chris Lewis: tenor & soprano sax, clarinet
Dan Block: tenor & soprano sax, clarinet
Paul Nedzela: baritone sax, bass clarinet
Trumpets: Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Marcus Printup, Jesus Ricardo
Trombones: Vincent Gardner, Nick Mesler, Elliot Mason, Jennifer Wharton, bass trombone (on “Continuous” and “We the People” only)
Rhythm Section: James Chirillo (Ellington tunes only)—Guitar; Dan Nimmer—Piano;
Carlos Henriquez—Bass; Obed Calvaire, Drums
TRACK LISTING
“Continuous” by Wynton Marsalis, Edited and Additional Transcription by Christopher Crenshaw
“Mendizorrotza Swing (from Vitoria Suite)” by Wynton Marsalis, Edited and Additional Transcription by Christopher Crenshaw
“Midnight in Paris” by Billy Strayhorn, Transcribed by Mark Lopeman, Edited by Christopher Crenshaw
“Portrait of the Lion” by Duke Ellington, Transcribed by David Berger & Mark Lopeman, Edited by Christopher Crenshaw
“Shanghai Skyline (from The Shanghai Suite)” by Wynton Marsalis, Edited and Additional Transcription by Christopher Crenshaw
“Vagabonds” by Duke Ellington, Juan Tizol, and Johnny Burke, Arranged by Dick Vance, Transcribed by Mark Lopeman, Edited by Christopher Crenshaw
“Warm Valley” by Duke Ellington, Transcribed by Mark Lopeman, Edited by Christopher Crenshaw
“We the People (from We the People)” by Wynton Marsalis, Edited and Additional Transcription by Christopher Crenshaw
ABOUT ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON:
One of the most innovative education events in the world, the Essentially Ellington program and resources for students and band directors are free of charge and aim to elevate musicianship, broaden perspectives, and inspire performance through the music of jazz icon Duke Ellington.
The program aims to promote appreciation for jazz music and American vernacular music and has served as a major talent incubator for many alumni who have gone on to form a new generation of professional musicians band directors, and industry figures including Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra musicians Obed Calvaire, Carlos Henriquez, Alexa Tarantino, GRAMMY Award winner Samara Joy, “Saturday Night Live” band member Summer Camargo, and renowned musicians Aaron Diehl, Tatum Greenblatt, Chris Lewis, Riley Mulherkar, Philip Norris, among many more.
Since its inception in 1987, Jazz at Lincoln Center has produced an extensive range of jazz educational and advocacy programs for all ages. The organization’s Essentially Ellington program spreads the message of Duke Ellington’s music, leadership, and collective orientation, providing high school ensembles with free transcriptions of original Duke Ellington recordings – accompanied by rehearsal guides, original recordings, professional instruction, and more – to thousands of schools and community bands in 63 countries. More than 7,000 high school bands have benefitted from free charts and resources. All member ensembles have the option to apply to the Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival, a 3-day event held in NYC each year that includes workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals, and performances before Wynton Marsalis and a panel of esteemed judges.
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 aligns 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 blueenginerecords.org.