Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's The Nutcracker Suite in Carnegie for the Second Consecutive Year

The Adam Lee Morgan Band Credit: photo taken from website adamleemorgan.com

For the second year in a row, I sat through a concert by the Adam Lee Morgan Jazz Band at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie. The 15-member ensemble performed Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s The Nutcracker Suite, not in the order Tchaikovsky wrote it but in the order Ellington or Strayhorn did, according to band leader Adam Lee Morgan.

          The concert hall held one of the largest audiences I’ve ever seen in the space, and the crowd was definitely in a festive mood, which made everything even more effervescent. Morgan introduced each section of the concert, which made it more interesting and many members of the band had solos in which to display their talent.

A quick review of the evening’s program showed that the caliber of the musicians is noteworthy. Many of the players teach at places like Duquesne University or Washington and Jefferson College. Others are going for a Ph.D. in the Music (Jazz Studies) program at the University of Pittsburgh. Others have studied at prestigious music schools like Berklee College of Music and University of Michigan.

          Many have performed at well-known jazz festivals and have had experience performing in countries like China and Malaysa.

The ensemble is currently working on a project to revitalize the Big Band works of Mary Lou Williams, a jazz pianist, arranger and composer who grew up in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood.

For a video on the band’s website adamleemorgan.com from last year, click here.