Celebrating the Duke

Description

The Battersea Jazz Festival will be back at the historic Clapham Grand for a celebration of the music of Duke Ellington. With a lineup of London’s biggest big band combined with a combination of more than three different choirs, this evening will be a guaranteed Tour de Force where swinging jazz meets beautiful choral music.

The South London Jazz Orchestra, conducted by festival Founder and Director Hugo Jennings, will perform classics from the Duke Ellington Orchestra Songbook, and then be joined by a large choir featuring members of London Sings!, Thames Philharmonic, St Mary’s Battersea and many other groups to perform selections from the Sacred Concerts. Written in the 1960s and 70s, these pieces are a mixture of raucous celebration and beautiful emotional outpourings, and the rare combination of a big band with large choir will make this a very special occasion.

South London Jazz Orchestra is a diverse group of talented musicians. Its aim is to share a love of Big Band jazz with the community, help raise money for charity, and have as much fun as possible while doing so.  SLJO is part of South London Community Music, alongside concert band South London Symphonic Winds and choir London Sings!

The band is celebrating its 25^th year of running, and performs over 30 gigs a year at a variety of venues across London and beyond. A popular feature at many bandstands across the city’s parks, SLJO can also be found at venues including Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club, Pizza Express Dean Street, and many more. The band has also toured to Brighton, Edinburgh, Guernsey, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.