Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 23, 2001

Volume 29, Number 20

Shakespeare-inspired music will be
featured in concert by Yale Jazz Ensemble

The band will blow in tribute to the Bard when the Yale Jazz Ensemble performs music inspired by William Shakespeare on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m. in Morse Recital Hall of Sprague Memorial Hall, corner of College and Wall streets.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature two main works, "Such Sweet Thunder" by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and "Songs from 'Much Ado About Nothing'" by David M. Brandenberg, music director of the Yale Jazz Ensemble and assistant director of Yale Bands.

Considered one of the finest collaborations between Ellington and Strayhorn, "Such Sweet Thunder" is a 12-movement suite of Shakespearean character portraits. The piece originally premiered in 1957. The Yale ensemble will perform selections from the suite.

"Songs from 'Much Ado About Nothing'" features Shakespeare's words set to music. The songs were composed for a Hamptons Shakespeare Festival production in 2000; this performance marks the work's premiere in concert form. New York vocalist and actress Danielle Duval will join the jazz ensemble for their piece.

The evening's program will also include the music of Thad Jones, Charles Mingus and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

An 18-piece big band, the Yale Jazz Ensemble performs a wide variety of music, from Yale's Benny Goodman archive to the newest and most progressive jazz compositions. It appeared with or opened for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band, the World Saxophone Quartet, Jane Ira Bloom, Jimmy Owen and Branford Marsalis.

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Shakespeare-inspired music will be featured in concert by Yale Jazz Ensemble

Campus Notes