Professor Carl Woideck and his Jazz Heritage Project will be celebrating the timeless music of jazz great Billy Strayhorn at their concert “Take the ‘A’ Train” tonight at the Shedd Institute.
“Take the ‘A’ Train” pays tribute to composer and pianist Strayhorn, who is best known as the right-hand man to composer and band-leader Duke Ellington. The jazz classic “Take the ‘A’ Train” is often attributed to Ellington, but it was actually written by Strayhorn and later became Ellington’s theme song.
“Few people other than ardent followers of Ellington even know about Strayhorn, though he wrote what became Ellington’s new theme song,” said Michael Denny, professor of instrumental guitar and jazz studies at the University. “This is why we have Carl Woideck and others to thank who champion the collaboration between the two.”
The concert is part of a series the Carl Woideck Jazz Heritage Project performs, celebrating various jazz greats, or jazz treatments. Past performances have included “Thelonious Monk & Charles Mingus,” “Jazz Meets Cole Porter” and “Miles Davis, John Coltrane & Kind of Blue.”
James I. Ralph, executive director of the Shedd Institute, has been working with Woideck for the past few years putting together jazz concerts.
“What Carl is going to do with this show is expose us to even more great Strayhorn/Ellington gems,” Ralph said. “Carl is like that — he’s always got new insights into just about anything jazz.”
Woideck will be performing on soprano saxophone along with Sean Flannery on tenor saxophone, Toby Koenigsberg on piano, Kevin McDonald on bass, Susan Richardson on drums, Sonja Rasmussen on vocals and a guest appearance by Eric Johnson on alto saxophone.
The pieces they will play represent a wide variety of Strayhorn’s compositions, including such songs as “Chelsea Bridge” (in Ella Fitzgerald style), an arrangement of “Lush Life” and his most famous piece, “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
“(Strayhorn) was good at writing impressionistic songs,” Woideck said. “His song titles suggested something … a name, an image, a place.”
Part of the reason Strayhorn interests Woideck so much is not just his music, but his history.
Ellington brought Strayhorn to his band in the late 1930s, which was thought to be an odd choice since Ellington himself was also a composer and pianist. Strayhorn and Ellington collaborated on many pieces, and according to Woideck, Strayhorn wrote between 5 and 10 percent of Ellington’s music.
But Strayhorn, though accomplished and important to Ellington’s band, preferred to stay in the background because he was openly gay.
“He could be out in the musical world and didn’t have to worry about being a public figure,” Woideck said.
However, Strayhorn was at a slight disadvantage with his staying in the background. Some of his pieces, like “Take the ‘A’ Train,” were falsely attributed as Ellington’s composition, and Strayhorn often had to fight to be correctly credited for the pieces he wrote.
Despite this, he and Ellington shared a symbiotic relationship. And though Strayhorn often stayed in Ellington’s shadow, his contribution to jazz can’t be ignored.
Woideck, who has been working with the Shedd Institute for several years, is already brimming with new ideas for upcoming concerts such as a concert featuring the works of George and Ira Gershwin and, he hopes, performing jazz arrangements of pop artists like Radiohead, Arcade Fire or Bjork.
Ralph is equally as excited about celebrating jazz at the Shedd Institute, as well as working with Woideck.
“I love working with Carl — he’s not only a great jazz saxophonist, he’s a scholar,” Ralph said. “We’re truly proud, here at the Shedd, to be able to do this series with him.”
The performance is tonight, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Jaqua Concert Hall at the Shedd Institute. Tickets are $14, $18 and $22, with 10 percent off for college students with an ID.
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