Ellington and The Far East

The Duke Ellington Orchestra embarked on a world tour in 1963, which included performances in cities such as Damascus, Ramall’ah, Kabul, New Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta, Tehran, Isfahan, Baghdad, Beirut and many others. The Ellington/Strayhorn compositions the tour inspired became The Far East Suite (1966), the title being something of a misnomer since only one track — inspired by a 1964 tour of Japan — is actually concerned with a country in the “Far East.” Names aside, the eleven movements that comprise the final version of The Far East Suite, almost all collaborations, include some of the greatest music they ever composed together, and mark the end of their extraordinary collaboration, for Billy Strayhorn died five months after the recording was completed. One of the highlights of the Ellington oeuvre, we conclude our seven lecture series on the work of one of the great 20th century masters, Edward Kennedy Ellington, with his last great work, The Far East Suite.











When: Thu., Jul. 13, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Where: The 92nd Street Y, New York
1395 Lexington Ave.
212-415-5500
Price: $45
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The Duke Ellington Orchestra embarked on a world tour in 1963, which included performances in cities such as Damascus, Ramall’ah, Kabul, New Delhi, Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta, Tehran, Isfahan, Baghdad, Beirut and many others. The Ellington/Strayhorn compositions the tour inspired became The Far East Suite (1966), the title being something of a misnomer since only one track — inspired by a 1964 tour of Japan — is actually concerned with a country in the “Far East.” Names aside, the eleven movements that comprise the final version of The Far East Suite, almost all collaborations, include some of the greatest music they ever composed together, and mark the end of their extraordinary collaboration, for Billy Strayhorn died five months after the recording was completed. One of the highlights of the Ellington oeuvre, we conclude our seven lecture series on the work of one of the great 20th century masters, Edward Kennedy Ellington, with his last great work, The Far East Suite.

Buy tickets/get more info now