The Sacred Sunday Band and Gospel Choir led by Musical Director Anthony Evans will perform “Sacred Sunday, The Gospel According to Ellington” in the second of a monthly performance series celebrating the music of the jazz great Duke Ellington on Sunday, September 1 at Birdland Jazz Club, 315 West 44th Street, NYC. Joining them are guest vocalist Jeannine Otis and tap dancer DeWitt Fleming. Doors open at 5pm; performance at 5:30pm.

The Duke Ellington performance series at Birdland is hosted and presented by Mercedes Ellington, Artistic Director/Founder of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts, Inc. and Tony Waag, Artistic Director of The American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF). “Tap and jazz are undeniably attached at the hip,” said Mr. Waag, who is curating the tap dance portion of the series. Duke Ellington was inducted into the ATDF International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2017.

In the last decade of his life, Duke Ellington wrote three Sacred Concerts:

1965 – A Concert of Sacred Music

1968 – Second Sacred Concert

1973 – Third Sacred Concert

Ellington called these concerts “the most important thing I have ever done”. He said many times that he was not trying to compose a “Mass” (liturgy). These concerts have been characterized as Ellington bringing the Cotton Club revue to the church.

Tickets: $30 – $40 – $60
Visit: birdlandjazz.com

The Duke Ellington Performance Series will continue at Birdland Jazz Club monthly, on Sunday evenings.