Rutgers University Jazz Lab Big Band Concert

Conducted by Dr. Anthony Branker, the Rutgers University Jazz Lab Big Band performs Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown, and Beige”

Duke Ellington’s “Black, Brown, and Beige” remains one of the seminal works of his legendary career. Described by Ellington as being a “tone parallel to the history of the American Negro,” it was easily the most ambitious project of his career upon its completion over the course of 1942. Ellington commenced work on this magnum opus shortly after the conclusion of one of his other early experiments at longer musical forms, 1941’s jazz musical Jump For Joy Black, Brown, and Beige represents several major innovations in the world of jazz. It was Ellington’s first major attempt at a long-form composition, consisting of three main parts in a quasi-symphonic structure, with instrumental soloists oftentimes being cast in roles that were more akin to opera than traditional big band writing. The work also tore down political and cultural barriers, as it openly attempted to present jazz in artistic rather than popular terms, as well as celebrating African American culture while doing so. These key innovations make Black, Brown, and Beige stand out as a transcendental work of not just Ellington’s expansive catalog, but Western music in general.