Tonight EOU hosts a jazz recital celebrating Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The local jazz heavyweights, led by Matt Cooper, performed. We learn that Matt has published a book on the life and music of Duke Ellington, further solidifying his reputation in the majors. Matt’s performance was dazzling, and Greg’s was to knock you out. This is the first time that I have heard Luke work out on the analog … I mean acoustic, string bass. We’ve come to expect great stuff from him on his electric instruments with just about every musical genre, and he sounded great tonight.
(not pictured: Peter Wordelman, trumpet)
P.S. After the concert, I was able to grab an informal portrait of Luke with his mother, Jean, as she engaged me in conversation. But we won’t publish until Jean gets first look.