CD:
A Celebration for the Duke

A tribute concert to Duke Ellington by the BigBand and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Fola Dada and Tony Lakatos.

Duke Ellington was a bandleader and musical director, pianist, in-house composer and arranger for his own big band, he left behind around 2000 works, composed film scores, for revue theatre and show stages, but also for the classical concert hall. He combined Jazz with elements of the Western European musical avant-garde of the time as well as the classical-romantic tradition and thus became one of the pioneers of the Third Stream.

This tribute concert was performed and recorded as part of Musikfest Berlin on 16 September 2024. The program features some of his greatest hits from the big band era as well as compositions from his later creative period such as Night Creature and A Tone Parallel to Harlem: works that made him one of the founders of the Third Stream, that typically American combination of jazz with elements of European symphonic music and classical modernism.

The BigBand of the Deutsche Oper Berlin has long made a name for its outstanding jazz interpretations. Fola Dada's powerful, versatile voice may still be familiar to you as she was a vocal coach on German hit TV talent show “Deutschland Sucht den Superstar”. In 2022, she won the German Jazz Award in the ‘Vocal’ category. In 2025, she will be on tour in jazz clubs in Germany, Austria and in Spain. Saxophonist Tony Lakatos has been a permanent fixture in the jazz scene for many years. His recording of Porgy and Bess with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band won the German Record Award in 2009. He regularly plays in the hottest jazz clubs around the world.

Recording date 16.09.2024
Recording location Philharmonie Berlin
Orchestra / Band BigBand of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Conductor Titus Engel / Manfred Honetschläger
Orchestra / Band Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Soloist Fola Dada, recital & vocals
Soloist Tony Lakatos, saxophone
Duration 95 mins
English title A Celebration for the Duke
Audio format Stereo