The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik close the 2018-19 season and company with the jazz homage concert “Lush Life: The Music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn.” It doesn’t get much more iconic than Duke Ellington, whose suave and swingin’ approach to music produced such indelible hits as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and “Caravan.” But Ellington also had a formidable collaborator in Strayhorn, the man who wrote what is arguably Ellington’s most enduring song: “Take the A Train.” No matter how you parse it, the duo’s music is smart, sleek, and dripping with classic cool.
Tyzik and the RPO will present “Lush Life: The Music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn” on Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, 8 p.m. both nights, at Eastman Theatre’s Kodak Hall, 60 Gibbs Street. $24-$112. 454-2100. rpo.org.
This article appears in May 29 – Jun 4, 2019.
