Mr Sun has announced a December 1 release for their new project, Mr Sun Plays Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite on Adhyâropa Records, available for pre-order from their Bandcamp website.
On this new recording, the quartet of Darol Anger, fiddle; Joe Walsh, mandolin; Grant Gordy, guitar and Aidan O'Donnell, bass reinterpret the legendary Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite, bringing this monumental reimagining of the iconic Tchaikovsky piece into the acoustic string band world.
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved and familiar melodies in the Western world. Mr Sun has seized upon the inspiration of Duke Ellington’s brilliant, sly, and urbane re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky's Suite, recorded in 1960 to universal acclaim.
Mr Sun took the opportunity to salute and re-invent this wildly multi-faceted work anew through the lens of the American String Band, a musical format which encompasses myriad styles and is engaged in a marathon upheaval of innovation and expansion. In Mr Sun's new reading, the pieces of the Suite range from close interpretations of Billy Strayhorn’s original charts to intense extrapolations based on the spirit of the material.
Listen
From the recording, the first single release, "Pea Shooter Parade."
Track Listing
- Overture
- Pea Shooter Parade (March)
- Reedy Rootin Tootin Pipey Gripey Waltz (Dance Of The Reed-Pipes)
- Yangtze Dawdle (Danse Chinoise)
- Sugared Rum? Spare Me! (Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy)
- Entr'acte
- Shovasky's Transmogrifatron (Ballet Snow Scene)
- (Don't) Walk On The Flowers (Waltz Of The Flowers)
- 100% Arabica (Arabian Dance)
- Russian Fox Chase (Trepak)
Mr Sun will premiere the work at the Freshgrass Festival at Mass/MOCA in September of 2023, concurrent with the release of the recording. The Project was generously underwritten by the Freshgrass Foundation.
Additional Information
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