From Broadway To 52nd Street
Sophisticated Ladies had a preview run of 15 shows beginning February 16th prior to its official opening at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre on March 1, 1981 and ran for 767 performances. Duke Ellington composed the music for the revue with a cast that included Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge and Mercer Ellington. Hines’ older brother Maurice joined the cast later in the run.
The score includes classic jazz tunes “Mood Indigo,” “Take The “A” Train, I’m Beginning To See The Light, Hit Me With A Hot Note and See Me Bounce, It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing), I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart, Old Man Blues, In A Sentimental Mood, Sophisticated Lady, Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, Satin Doll and I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good among numerous others.
Jazz History: In the 1980s the jazz community shrank dramatically and split. A mainly older audience retained an interest in traditional and straight-ahead jazz styles. Wynton Marsalis strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, creating extensions of small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In the early part of the decade, a commercial form of jazz fusion called pop fusion or smooth jazz became successful and garnered significant radio airplay.
Smooth jazz received frequent airplay with more straight-ahead jazz in “Quiet Storm” time slots (a format begun at Howard University’s WHUR by host Melvin Lindsay) at radio stations in urban markets across the United States. This helped to establish or bolster the careers of Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G, Kirk Whalum, Boney James and David Sanborn and vocalists including Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan and Sade.
In this same time period “Echoes of an Era” was released by the sextet comprised of Chaka Khan (vocal), Joe Henderson (saxophone), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Chick Corea (piano), Stanley Clarke (bass) and Lenny White (drums). The quintet released another “Echoes” enlisting the vocal talents of Nancy Wilson. The quintet would also release two albums titled “The Griffith Park Collection”.
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