Duke Ellington festival at UCLA has got that swing

When it comes to describing Duke Ellington, it’s easy to run out of superlatives. One of the defining figures of American music? Sure, with a 50-year career that includes standards such as “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” and “In a Sentimental Mood,” that’s a given.

FOR THE RECORD:
Duke Ellington: An article in Thursday’s Calendar section about Duke Ellington’s 110th Birthday Anniversary Festival at UCLA said that Ellington was the first African American to be immortalized on U.S. currency. He is the first to appear alone on a circulating U.S. coin. —

A leading light in our nation’s culture who broke down racial barriers as routinely as most musicians break strings, most recently as the first African American to be immortalized on U.S. currency, with Washington, D.C.’s, quarter? You’re getting warmer.

Or how about one of the world’s great composers? That sounds about right.

“I have always considered him to be our Mozart,” says fellow composer and UCLA instructor Paul Chihara, who arranged music from the Ellington-themed Broadway show “Sophisticated Ladies” into a piece for string quartet, which will be performed Saturday night as part of a festival honoring Ellington at UCLA this weekend. “He was just so natural and comfortable in what he wrote.”

FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of UCLA instructor and composer Paul Chihara as Paul Chihada.

Honoring the composer’s 110th birthday, the two-day celebration will attempt to encapsulate many sides of Ellington’s rich musical life in a brisk two days.

Beginning on Saturday afternoon with the composer’s work for small jazz combos performed by UCLA students (under the direction of renowned guitarist and UCLA faculty member Kenny Burrell), the festival also will touch on Ellington’s classical pieces, his once controversial “Sacred Music” concerts, a recently discovered folk opera called “Queenie Pie,” and finally, on Sunday night, three ensembles performing selections from his massive catalog of big band favorites.

In addition to an array of contributions from UCLA students and faculty, the weekend also will feature performances by recording artists Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bill Henderson, Dwight Trible and others from the world of jazz.

As the teacher of UCLA’s “Ellingtonia” class for over 30 years, Burrell was an ideal choice to help organize the program, which is co-presented by the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and the department of ethnomusicology. But Burrell is most grateful that the weekend concerts could be presented free to the public.

“This is a tough time,” Burrell says. “And to me Ellington is so important . . . that I think all Americans and all of us should be aware of his great contributions and enjoy ourselves.”

Despite the 35 years since Ellington’s death, Burrell sees plenty in the composer’s singular and often boundary-pushing catalog that resonates with today’s audiences, particularly among students.

“There’s an awful lot musicians of today can learn from him, and there will be an awful lot that musicians 20, 30, 40 years from now can learn,” Burrell says.

“Just from a standpoint of really exploring who you are and bringing out the uniqueness that’s in you. . . . Everybody is unique, but they’re not able to capture and pull it out. Ellington is a perfect example of how to do that.”

chris.barton@latimes.com