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The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington
Luckman Jazz Orchestra
You can jive with secular music, but you can't jive with the Almighty.
-Duke Ellington

Ellington's sacred music, written during the last decade of this great composer's life is his most personal work. As a boy growing up in Washington, D.C., he attended two churches every Sunday—19th Street Baptist Church and John Wesley AME Zion. He was a deeply religious man who, until 1965, mostly kept his religiosity to himself. These selections from the Sacred Music Concerts, performed by the renowned Luckman Jazz Orchestra under the direction of James Newton, resound with Ellington's profound beliefs. Throughout his career he was a student of the Bible, and these works may be seen as his last will and testament, his communion with God. Presented for the first time in Los Angeles on such a grand scale, performers also include a mass choir from the community put together by the Faithful Central Bible Church music ministry. Presented in association with the Faithful Central Bible Church and Luckman Fine Arts Complex.