Chineke! Orchestra Release Rare New Recording of Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite

It’s a great delight to announce Chineke! Orchestra’s upcoming release of a toe-tapping rendition of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite, arranged and released in the 1960s by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The work takes themes from Tchaikovsky’s beloved 1892 festive ballet with a jazz twist.

There are very few recordings of this work, and the version performed here is Jeff Tzyik’s adaptation for orchestra of which there are no official recordings.

Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn reinvented Tchaikovsky’s holiday ballet classic as a jazzy, brassy “melting pot of musical styles past and present,” according to The New York Times. The Sugar Plum Fairy becomes the sultry Sugar Rum Cherry, while the Dance of the Reed Pipes becomes Toot Toot Tootie Toot.

The album is a live recording of our performance of the reimagined jazz work from April 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall.