Duke Ellington Honored With Performance Series At Birdland Jazz Club

ELLINGTON ON BROADWAY, featuring songs from the hit musicals PLAY ON and SOPHISTICATED LADIES, will kick off a monthly performance series honoring Jazz Great Duke Ellington at Birdland Jazz Club, 315 West 44th Street, NYC.

The series, to begin at 5:30pm on Sunday, August 4, will be hosted and presented by Mercedes Ellington, Artistic Director/Founder of Duke Ellington Center for the Arts, Inc. and Tony Waag, Artistic Director of The American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF).

Leading vocalists and Broadway performers will be featured at the Ellington on Broadway performance, including Marion Cowings, Ty Stephens and Andrea Wright, with special appearances by tap dancers AC Lincoln and Karen Callaway Williams. All will be accompanied by the Duke Ellington Center's Big Band conducted by Frank Owens.
The Duke Ellington performance series will continue at Birdland Jazz Club monthly, on Sunday evenings.
Tickets: $30 - $40 - $60
Visit: birdlandjazz.com

"The 'Ellington' performance series celebrates a marriage of jazz music and tap dance, and Duke Ellington is a key figure in the perpetuation of the idea that tap dance IS music and tap dancers are indeed musicians that create music with their feet. Tap grew up next to its kissing cousin Jazz. Tap and jazz are undeniably attached at the hip," said Mr Waag, who is curating the tap dance portion of the series. Duke Ellington was inducted into the ATDF International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2017.

Next up: SACRED SUNDAY - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ELLINGTON, Sept. 1 at 5:30pm (Birdland Jazz Club) with music from the Sacred Concert, My People and more!

Duke Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category." He remains one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music and is widely considered as one of the twentieth century's most prolific composer and best-known African American personalities.

As both a composer and bandleader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with the continuous thematic repackaging of his signature music, often becoming best sellers. Posthumous recognition of his work includes a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Duke Ellington Milestones include:

· President Lyndon Johnson presented Duke Ellington with the President's Gold Medal in 1966.

· President Richard M. Nixon presented Duke Ellington with the Medal of Freedom in 1969.

· Duke Ellington received 13 Grammy Awards.

· Duke Ellington received the Pulitzer Prize

· He was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1973.

· The United States Post Office issued a Commemorative Stamp with his image on it in 1986.

From 1986 - 1999 the American Tap Dance Foundation was known as the American Tap Dance Orchestra. It was created, choreographed and directed by master tap dancer Brenda Bufalino and founded by Ms. Bufalino along with Tony Waag, and the late Charles 'Honi' Coles in 1986 as a tax exempt 501c3 charitable organization. During that time the Orchestra performed in hundreds of concert, stage, and film projects and thrilled audiences around the world. From 1989 to 1995, the company also operated Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center in New York City, and presented on-going classes, performances and related activities. In 2001 with a new generation of tap dancers and enthusiasts, the Orchestra was renamed under the artistic direction and leadership of Tony Waag.