Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra- Ellington Masterworks

Celebrate the timeless genius of Duke Ellington with Ellington Masterworks, a spectacular new release from the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra on the MCG Jazz label! Recorded live in Pittsburgh, this album dives into the Smithsonian’s vast archives to breathe fresh, vibrant life into rare and demanding compositions spanning 1940 to 1968. Far from treating these historic charts as dusty museum pieces, the orchestra delivers explosive, swinging energy on tracks like "The Flaming Sword" and "Ad Lib on Nippon." Combining meticulous scholarship with world-class musicianship, it’s a masterful tribute that proves Ellington’s boundless imagination and orchestral brilliance are as vividly alive today as ever.