Duke Ellington – the unbelievably magnificent “Nutcracker Suite”

“The Nutcracker Suite” is an album from 1960 recorded by Duke Ellington’s jazz band. This splendid album is comprised of jazz interpretations of "The Nutcracker" ballet by Tchaikovsky. The arrangements for the album are done by Ellington himself and Billy Strayhorn (another great composer popular for songs like "Take the 'A' Train" and "Lush Life"), with whom he worked on various projects. In 2013 “The Nutcracker Suite” was recorded again by Steven Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble (New York).

The festivity and the wonder of “The Nutcracker” seem to make it the most suitable of Tchaikovsky’s works for a jazz adaptation. At least, that’s the impression that Ellington’s arrangement gives you. This album is crafted with care and attention to detail. In no way it is a simple re-recording of classical works by the average jazz band, it consists of playful variations, solos and in some of the tracks large sections of the main theme are replaced with pure jazz delights by Ellington and Strayhorn.

To my knowledge, classical “remakes” are rarely successful and often reduce the quality of the original material or simply don’t manage to make anything interesting with it. But “The Nutcracker Suite” is absolutely inspired, it doesn’t simplify the classical piece, but elevates the jazz genre to that of the old masters by creatively recomposing and in fact enriching the music in surprising ways. Elegant, profound and wonderfully balancing the initial material with marvelous jazz techniques, this album is an instrumental bliss for both fans of Ellington and Tchaikovsky.

The album was also re-released in 1990 under the name “Three Suites” and includes Ellington's arrangements of Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite" and "Suite Thursday", which is his tribute to John Steinbeck.

Here’s the list of all tracks on the album. Ellington also changed the titles appropriately.

1.  "Overture"
2.  "Toot Toot Tootie Toot (Dance of the Reed-Pipes)"
3.  "Peanut Brittle Brigade [March]"
4. "Sugar Rum Cherry (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)"
5.  "Entr'acte"
6.   "Volga Vouty (Russian Dance)"
7.   "Chinoiserie (Chinese Dance)"
8.  "Danse of the Floreadores (Waltz of the Flowers)"
9.     "Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance)"

And list of the great musicians involved:

Duke Ellington – piano

Willie Cook, Fats Ford, Ray Nance, Clark Terry - trumpet

Lawrence Brown, Booty Wood, Britt Woodman - trombone

Juan Tizol - valve trombone

Jimmy Hamilton - clarinet, tenor saxophone

Johnny Hodges - alto saxophone

Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet

Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone

Harry Carney - baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet

Aaron Bell - bass

Sam Woodyard – drums

"Dance of the Floreadores" (Waltz of the Flowers) from “The Nutcracker Suite”: 

I can't upload the full playlist for the album here, so here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MihqGJ4PkY&list=PLEE9A9CF50F4E1576&index=1