The Anderson Brothers Play Ellington At Birdland This Month

Peter and Will Anderson present the life and music of Duke Ellington, with an entertaining narrative and live quintet performance. Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (1899-1974), arguably the most prolific American composer of all time, broke musical barriers of popular music and created a distinctive compositional style traveling with his jazz orchestra around the world for over fifty years. Songs will include "It Don't Mean a Thing If it Ain't Got That Swing," "Mood Indigo," "Caravan," and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." Ellington famously said, "There are two types of music. Good music, and the other kind."

Identical twins and Juilliard graduates Peter & Will Anderson are one of the most extraordinary musical acts today performing captivating, classic jazz. Born and raised in Washington D.C., the Anderson's have headlined at The Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, New Orleans Jazz Festival, Feinstein's 54 Below, live on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion, and can be heard on the Grammy-winning soundtrack of HBO's Boardwalk Empire with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks. Vanity Fair magazine listed their debut album alongside Miles Davis in "Four New Releases to Make You Love Jazz," and the Washington Post called their music "imaginatively unfolding in ways that consistently bring a fresh perspective to classic jazz." Peter and Will received a 2014 Drama Desk nomination for their Off-Broadway Show, Le Jazz Hot (one of eight sold-out productions at Manhattan's 59E59 Theaters), and are 2018 Bistro Award winners. www.PeterAndWillAnderson.com

Performances are May 9, 16, 23, 30.

Peter Anderson - tenor & soprano sax, clarinet
Will Anderson - alto sax, clarinet, flute
Rossano Sportiello - piano
Paul Gill - bass
Chuck Redd - drum set