Yale Jazz Ensemble – The Music of Duke Ellington & Thelonious Monk

Wayne Escoffery, Grammy award-winning saxophonist and two-time Downbeat Critics Poll winner for tenor and soprano saxophones, makes his debut as director of the 2021-22 Yale Jazz Ensemble big band at tonight’s concert.
The year 2022 marks the centennial of the birth of one of the most important composers in Jazz and the first African American musician to have the entire body of his work acquired by the Library or Congress — bassist Charles Mingus. This concert will explore the music of two of Mingus’ greatest influences, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, with music from Ellington’s seminal albums “Far East Suite” and “And His Mother Called Him Bill”, and Monk favorites “Let’s Cool One” and “Reflections.”