$25 Adv/$29 Door

Novel Jazz Septet is celebrating International Jazz Day, Duke Ellington's 125th Birthday and the 20th Anniversary of Novel Jazz!

International Jazz Day is declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." The idea came from jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. Jazz Day is chaired by Hancock and the UNESCO Director-General. This concert is the OFFICIAL Portland, Maine celebration of International Jazz Day! The International Jazz Day celebration brings together jazz shows from places far and wide...Ireland, Iran, Kenya, Lichtenstein, Rwanda, Namibia, New Zealand, you name it!

The mission of the Novel Jazz Septet is to share the music and stories of jazz icons, Duke Ellington, his side-kick, Billy Strayhorn, as well as other notable members of his illustrious orchestra. Between them, these icons of Jazz wrote several thousand compositions over their musical careers, two percent of which represent well-known standards and 98% of which represent rarely heard gems. Novel Jazz will perform standard tunes from the Ellington/Strayhorn repertoire, newly arranged compositions unearthed from original recordings, as well as manuscripts from the Ellington Archives of the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Strayhorn Collection at the Library of Congress, both in Washington D.C. Novel Jazz members have dusted these pieces off, rearranged them for the septet, and given them a 21st century sound, all of their own.

To find out more visit Novel Jazz Septet

These are all seasoned jazz guys, and the result is a sound that made me sway, smile, groove, slow-dance with myself around the living room and play the air snare drums. Note to self: Bring this disc to work and impress jazz-appreciating boss. — Aimsel Ponti, Music Writer, Portland Press Herald