Commentary: How Peabody honors Duke Ellington’s musical, cultural impact

Artistic institutions, educators, musicians and others are observing the 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth and the 50th anniversary of his passing this spring by exploring and celebrating his inestimable musical and cultural impact.

In April, I joined with Dr. Beth Willer, director of choral studies at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, to work on Peabody’s jazz and choral programs’ first collaboration. We explored the mastery of the “Sacred Concerts,” one of the most personal works of this defining American composer of the 20th century.

Ellington was more than 50 years and nearly 2,000 compositions into his incomparable career when he was commissioned to write a concert of sacred music for the 1965 opening of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Born in 1899, Ellington came up during the emergence of the blues, ragtime and jazz, which some religious leaders called the “devil’s music.” Religious faith remained foundational to Ellington, however.

The concert to consecrate Grace Cathedral was a landmark moment in the history of jazz. “A Concert of Sacred Music” was filmed for public television, and the performance eventually toured in American and European churches. Three versions of it were recorded.

He proclaimed it “the most important thing I’ve ever done.”

“I recognized this as an exceptional opportunity,” Ellington wrote, recalling the Grace Cathedral concert in his 1973 autobiography, “Music Is My Mistress.” Ellington wrote that the concert allowed him to express “what I have been saying to myself on my knees.”

As we prepared for the performance of the music at Peabody, we recognized the importance of inviting several guests to join us from the community — both for the performance and for the educational aspects of Ellington’s music. Vocalists Imani Grace-Cooper and Keith Snipes both offered stunning interpretations of various movements within the piece. Multidisciplinary artist Brinae Ali thrilled the crowd with “David Danced,” offering a unique spin with a tap performance. Historian John Hasse offered his expertise, framing the overall cultural importance and historic significance of Ellington’s later works in a lecture to our students.

After several weeks of rehearsals, master classes and lectures, the jazz department and voice departments successfully bridged gaps among factions of the Peabody community and the community at large.

This kind of approach was fitting for an exploration of such groundbreaking work in the Ellington canon, which is intrinsically tied to the sound of the nation. The best of us as citizens can be heard in the masterful delivery of our heights and depths as human beings through his composition. It is within these offerings that we can find cultural reconciliation and evolution through study of key points.

The jazz department at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Dance seeks to foster this level of growth by focusing on the roots of the music, its diverse pedagogical sophistication and the cultural fusions that represent the truest possibilities in our country.

For example, as difficult as it is to grapple with the ramifications of the slave trade, we see how the sounds and rhythms of Africa and the soul of its people have made the American experiment possible. The cultural beauty of Africans, fused with various harmonic and form idiosyncrasies discovered in the Americas, birthed a unique and promising sound. The study of these roots inform the musician of their context in history, embracing its beauty while simultaneously reconciling with its tainted past.

The beautiful complexity of Ellington’s music reaches the ear of the listener with ease, wonder and delight. This can only be achieved by the most pedagogically sound musicians. At Peabody, we emphasize the importance of pedagogical excellence and individuality. After all, Ellington hired the best and wrote individual parts for their unique personalities, creating a fused sound that celebrates the individual’s relationship to the sound of the whole.

“Afro Eurasian Eclipse” and “The Sacred Concerts,” two later albums in Ellington’s discography, represent his embrace of spiritual consciousness and human evolution. As we teach the “how,” we must also focus on the “why.” One of the key roles of any artist is to present the sonic depiction of the current and future state of humanity. The study of current practices and the encouragement to explore new sounds is a hallmark of the jazz curriculum at Peabody.

Ellington represents the complete American musician. The highest forms of musicianship coupled with an embrace of all that it means to be human is what makes him America’s greatest composer. It is only fitting that America’s first conservatory of music reflect his mastery. As Ellington has influenced the world through the sounds of America, so too will the bright young minds at Peabody.

Sean Jones is the Richard and Elizabeth Case Chair of Jazz at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory and is artistic director of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra Jazz Ensemble.

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