The North West Duke Ellington Orchestra

A 15-piece big band directed by Phil Shotton performs note-for-note transcriptions of Duke Ellington's music in a matinee concert.

Formed in 2024 and directed by saxophonist Phil Shotton, the North West Duke Ellington Orchestra is a 15-piece big band of musicians from across the North West dedicated to celebrating Duke Ellington's music. The programme spans Ellington's career, from early 1920s Cotton Club dance tunes to the suites of the 1950s, drawn largely from the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra's 'Essentially Ellington' programme of note-for-note transcriptions of historic live performances. The matinee performance has a published running time of two hours and is open to all ages.