Program Notes

An Ellington Portrait

Duke Ellington, composer

Floyd Werle, arranger

Duke Ellington was one of the few jazz artists whose style never seemed to become dated. He was always able to blend his own art with new influences and trends. Songs he wrote as long as seventy years ago still sound fresh and many of the most up-to-date jazz musicians still play them. Floyd Werle’s setting of An Ellington Portrait includes eight — but by no means all — of his best ones: “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Mood Indigo,” (his first “hit”), “Azure,” “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart,” “Solitude,” “Caravan” and “In A Sentimental Mood.”

—Band Music Notes

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