Nichol Venee Eskridge
Saturday, December 28
Town Hall Seattle, 7:30pm
A gospel choir and tap dancer Alex Dugdale feature alongside the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, co-directed by Michael Brockman and Clarence Acox, with guest vocalists Nichol Veneé Eskridge and Everett Greene, the Emmy award-winning singer formerly with the Count Basie Orchestra. This is a holiday favorite and Earshot Jazz’s 25th annual presentation of this exuberant concert program by Duke Ellington.
Everett Greene
“Every man prays in his own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.” This Ellington quote captures the spirit of the three Sacred Music concerts that he premiered in 1965, 1968 and 1973. They were the culmination of the last, liturgical phase of his life’s work in music.
Ellington’s compositions for these concerts drew heavily on earlier pieces, which were then augmented to convey an intense emotion and reverence. The pieces engaged Ellington’s spirituality, derived from his roots in the Baptist Church, but transcended denomination with a poignant universalism. The Sacred Concerts brought the great jazz tradition into the church.
In his lifetime, Ellington stated this was the most important music he’d ever written. Because of the scale of the music and the number of artists needed to execute each work, Ellington’s Sacred Concert is infrequently performed in the 40 years since his death in 1974.
Tickets are $14-$36 at www.earshot.org or 800-838-3006.
