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SMITHSONIAN JAZZ MASTERWORKS ORCHESTRA UNEARTHS ELLINGTON'S HIDDEN GENIUS ON ELLINGTON MASTERWORKS, OUT JUNE 12 ON MCG JAZZ

A Live Recording That Proves Duke Ellington's Artistry Never Stopped Evolving

| Pittsburgh, PA | June 2026 |

Everyone knows Duke Ellington. But do you know all of Duke Ellington?

That's the quietly radical proposition at the heart of Ellington Masterworks, the stunning new album from the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO), due June 12, 2026 on MCG Jazz.

Recorded live April 6, 2024 at MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, the album pulls eight rarely performed compositions from across three decades of Ellington's career. These are pieces composed between 1940 and 1968 that even devoted fans may be hearing for the very first time.

The timing is significant: 2024 marked the 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth. Rather than offer another tour through "Mood Indigo" and "Take the A Train," the SJMO (working with direct access to the Smithsonian's legendary Duke Ellington Collection) went deeper.

The result is a program that doesn't just celebrate the man; it expands him.

"You're going to get a different entry point into Ellington and his artistry," says drummer and former Director of Jazz at the National Museum of American History, Ken Kimery, who has been embedded in the Smithsonian's jazz program since 1993. "It gave us a sense of authoritative voice to be able to celebrate it, versus just playing it."

An Orchestra Built for This Moment

Conductor and artistic director Charlie Young— whose experience includes a direct connection to the Ellington orchestra during the Mercer Ellington era— shaped a program that deliberately avoids the familiar, instead charting a course through Ellington's extended works, suite material, and character-driven compositions.

The SJMO roster is a powerhouse of large-ensemble specialists drawing from Washington, D.C.'s premier service bands and the broader jazz world: Steve Williams (Lead Alto Saxophone), Bill Mulligan, Scott Silbert, Luis Hernandez, and Leigh Pilzer in the saxophone section; Josh Kauffman (Lead Trumpet), Barbara Laronga, Ally Hany Albrecht, and Kenny Rittenhouse on trumpets; Jennifer Krupa (Lead Trombone), Matt Niess, and Bill Holmes in the trombone section; with Tony Nalker on piano, Amy Shook on bass, and Kimery himself on drums.

Soloists were given room to develop their own voices rather than replicate the original recordings — a choice that honors Ellington's own compositional philosophy. "It wasn't just about a composer writing music that he had envisioned," Kimery explains. "He actually included all these musicians that have these unique voices as part of the sculpting of his music."

The project is also unique in that it is a culmination of several longtime relationships, across both decades and miles. Marty Ashby, VP and Executive Producer at MCG Jazz says, “MCG Jazz has enjoyed a long and meaningful artistic partnership with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, spanning recordings as well as live performances across the United States, Asia, and Europe.”

Ashby adds, “This live recording, captured in our music hall in Pittsburgh, represents a true milestone—celebrating the enduring legacy of one of the most important composers and musicians of all time, Duke Ellington. Under the direction of Charlie Young, the program highlights a stunning collection of lesser-known Ellington masterworks, offering audiences a deeper glimpse into the breadth and brilliance of his creative vision.”

The Music: A Cross-Section of Ellington's Creative Life

"The Flaming Sword" (1940) opens the album with tightly integrated ensemble writing built over the harmonic structure of "Panama," its shifting rhythmic character announcing immediately that this is not the Ellington you've heard a hundred times.

"Tattooed Bride" (1948) is a revelation at over twelve minutes — a large-scale structure built from a four-note motive derived from the letter "W," transformed and expanded with irregular phrasing that feels as contemporary as anything in the modern orchestral jazz canon.

"Race" (1968), written for an unfinished film about Edgar Degas' paintings of horse racing, was conceived as a feature for alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Here, Steve Williams steps into that role with authority. It's a reminder that Ellington almost never wrote in the abstract — he always wrote toward something, someone, some image.

"Madness in Great Ones", from the 1957 suite Such Sweet Thunder (co-composed with Billy Strayhorn), draws on Shakespeare's Hamlet, weaving fugal writing against soaring high-register trumpet passages in a piece that sounds as intellectually alive today as it did nearly 70 years ago.

"Ad Lib on Nippon" — long credited to Ellington, now understood to include material by clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton — emerged from the orchestra's landmark 1964 Japan tour. At nearly twelve minutes, it unfolds through piano, bass, and clarinet improvisations with the spacious confidence of a band that knew it was making history.

"Oclupaca" ("Acapulco" spelled backward), from the 1968 Latin American Suite, centers a sinuous tenor saxophone voice within shifting ensemble textures — playful in its naming, serious in its execution.

"Shepherd", from Ellington's Second Sacred Concert, arrives as a slow blues honoring Reverend John Gensel and New York's nocturnal community of musicians and late-night workers. Barbara Laronga's trumpet performance is, by all accounts, transcendent. Says Kimery: "She plays it so beautifully with such passion… I think if Cootie Williams was still alive, he would have been very honored."

The album closes with "Jack the Bear" (1940), a piece forever associated with bassist Jimmie Blanton, navigating the shifting terrain of 12-bar form in a balance of ensemble passage and solo feature that feels like the perfect final statement.

The Recording: A Pittsburgh Landmark

Ellington Masterworks continues the long and productive partnership between the SJMO and MCG Jazz, which has documented and presented the ensemble in Pittsburgh since the late 1990s. MCG Jazz — a GRAMMY Award-winning label and performance organization within Manchester Craftsmen's Guild — has been a home for this work for decades. That this live recording captured something genuinely special is evident in every track.

"Duke, one of the nation's greatest composers, bandleaders, and musicians, represented this country through a life and contribution so vast that this recording offers a snapshot into many parts and moments of that journey," Kimery reflects. "The music becomes a portal into this genius that we all have great reverence for."

All compositions by Duke Ellington except "Madness in Great Ones" (Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.)

Publishing: EMI Robbins Catalog, Inc., SONY ATV Harmony, Tempo Music, Inc., Music Sales Corp.

Recorded April 6, 2024 at MCG Jazz, Pittsburgh, PA.

You may purchase the CD here.

For more information, please contact MCG Jazz at 412-322-0800 or visit www.mcgjazz.org.
Media inquiries: Marty Ashby MAshby@manchesterbidwell.org or Ashley Boynes-Shuck ABoynesShuck@manchesterbidwell.org.