OTTAWA (Canada) – From April 28-30, let the NAC Orchestra guide you on a journey back to the 1920’s, to New York City’s iconic “Cotton Club,” where Jazz legends Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie debuted some of the greatest jazz hits of all time.

This Fidelity Investment Pop’s concert will showcase the NAC Orchestra performing these swinging hits from the 1920s and 1930s under the leadership of GRAMMY Award winner Jeff Tyzik, one of America's most innovative and sought -after Pops conductors. The concert will also feature the debut of exceptional guest performers including brilliant trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling, vocalist Carmen Bradford who performed with the Count Basie Orchestra for nine years, drummer Robert Breithaupt and the phenomenal tap dancer and singer Ted Louis Levy, a protégé of Gregory Hines.

“From the first note to the last note,” says Jeff Tyzik, “you are in the Cotton Club." The program will open with number “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” setting the tone for a thrilling evening that will have your toes tapping.

“The Cotton Club was the place to go to see great talent and hear great music that was being written and performed for the first time,” says Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly. In the heart of Harlem, New York City, this famous nightclub opened its doors in 1920, as the “Deluxe Club” by owner Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion. In 1923, the club changed hands when notorious gangster Owney Madden took over, expanding its capacity from 400 to 700 patrons and renaming it the “Cotton Club.” Madden turned it into a speakeasy, an illegal drinking spot, during the American Prohibition, selling his own blend 'Madden's Number One' to great success. Although the club’s illegal activities forced it to close several times, his deep political connections made these closures short-lived.

Under Madden’s management the venue became a ‘whites only club’ that presented acts with African-American dancers, singers, comedians, and featured the “Cotton Club Orchestra,” the house band led by Duke Ellington. As the establishment’s success grew and grew, African-American jazz musicians used the notoriety of performing at the Cotton Club to help launch their careers. Ellington and his band gained tremendous acclaim through weekly broadcasts and nightly performances. Eventually Ellington was able to use this popularity to urge Madden to allow African-Americans to attend the club.

Some of the club’s greatest entertainers included Lena Horne, Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and Ethel Waters, among others.

From Carmen Bradford’s crooning vocals to Ted Louis Levy’s sure-footed tap happy feet, Fidelity Investments Pop’s “Night at the Cotton Club” will make you forget the Stormy Weather and have you singing I Got Rhythm!

On Thursday, April 28 and Friday, April 29, the Friends of the NAC Orchestra will hold a silent auction in the main foyer of the NAC. The auction offers outstanding and unique donated items from across Canada and from around the world. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the NAC Orchestra’s commitment to music education programs for young people. Help us build a fantastic future for music in Canada!

 

ABOUT THE NAC ORCHESTRA

In September 2015 Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director with the National Arts Centre’s Orchestra. Shelley has an unwavering reputation as one of Europe’s leading young conductors, notably as Chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra and most recently as the Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Formed in 1969 at the opening of Canada's National Arts Centre, the NAC Orchestra gives over 100 performances a year with renowned artists including Itzhak Perlman, Renée Fleming, James Ehnes, Emanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma. It is noted for the passion and clarity of its performances and recordings, its ground-breaking teaching and outreach programs, and nurturing of Canadian creativity. In addition to a full series of subscription concerts at the National Arts Centre each season, tours are undertaken to regions throughout Canada and around the world.

Since its inception the Orchestra has commissioned 80 works, mostly from Canadian composers. In 2001 it inaugurated the National Arts Centre Awards for Canadian Composers and the recipients thus far have been Denys Bouliane, John Estacio, Peter Paul Koprowski, Gary Kulesha, Alexina Louie and Ana Sokolovic.

Previous NAC Orchestra Music Directors include Pinchas Zukerman, Mario Bernardi and Trevor Pinnock. The 2015-16 season features Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds, Alain Trudel as Principal Youth and Family Conductor and Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly completing the strong artistic team.

In 1999, Pinchas Zukerman founded the NAC Young Artists Program, part of the wider NAC Summer Music Institute, which provides elite training to talented young musicians. Students all over the world are also taught via videoconferencing in the NAC's cutting-edge Hexagon Studio. The NAC Orchestra also created and continues to pioneer education work locally and in indigenous communities in northern Canada.

The NAC Orchestra has made over 40 commercial recordings, including Angela Hewitt’s 2014 Juno Award-winning album of Mozart Piano Concertos conducted by Hannu Lintu. Many more concerts are freely available through NACmusicbox.ca on the NAC's performing arts education website ArtsAlive.ca. These include many of the 100 new Canadian works commissioned by the NAC Orchestra in its 45 year history.

 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Andrea Ruttan
Communications Officer, NAC Orchestra

National Arts Centre

613 947-7000 x335

andrea.ruttan@nac-cna.ca