Mr Sun conjured Ellington’s Nutcracker in March of 2023. Darol Anger, Joe K. Walsh, Grant Gordy and Aidan O’Donnell went into the recording studio to transmogrify the legendary Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite into the Acoustic String Band known as Mr Sun. On the new recording, the pieces of the Suite range from close interpretations of Billy Strayorn’s original charts to intense extrapolations based on the spirit of the material.
The band will premiere their version of the composition at the Fresh Grass Music Festival taking place at Mass Moca in North Adams, MA on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.