The Nutcracker Suite

Duke Ellington

Featuring jazz interpretations of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the album has come to be recognised as one of Duke Ellington's most important albums of the 1960s. Yet when the Duke and his writing partner Billy Strayhorn first announced plans to take the classical ballet and perform a jazz version, even members of Duke's orchestra expressed their doubts that the project would amount to much.