A Snappy 'Nutcracker' and Other Sweets

Parents and kids alike got a lot more than they bargained for at a family concert offered Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Theatre as part of the second annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival.

The program promised a performance of Ellington's arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" Suite, and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra certainly did the delightful piece justice, evoking its numerous thematic charms while deftly drawing from the Ellington band's rich tonal palette.

Ensemble director and saxophonist Charlie Young noted that Ellington and Billy Strayhorn had reimagined Tchaikovsky's suite, redubbing the titles ("Dance of the Reed Pipes" became "Toot Toot Tootie Toot") and imparting a distinctive sense of whimsy and swing. The band's performance was appropriately lighthearted, with orchestrations marked by subtle textural shadings as well as a striking array of instrumental voicings that ranged from tin whistle to baritone sax.

The concert opened with several unadvertised pleasures -- a series of pieces drawn from Ellington's extraordinary catalogue of extended works. Some were familiar (the Shakespeare-inspired "Such Sweet Thunder"), others rarely performed (the jaunty "Misfit Blues" from "Suite Thursday"), but the orchestra demonstrated that each composition deserves to be heard more often.

While these performances were distinguished by colorful and cohesive ensemble play, a few soloists stood out -- among them trumpeter Tom Williams, who brightened "Portrait of Louis Armstrong" with requisite precision and assurance. Later, as if to make sure that Metro riders went home with a song in their hearts, the band capped the concert with a vibrant arrangement of "Take the 'A' Train."

-- Mike Joyce