The Monday Night Concert Series continues with “Kahn Plays Ellington,” at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan 17, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The concert features pianist Jeremy Kahn in a solo concert of masterpieces by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The concert is free, and the public is warmly welcome.
A resident of Oak Park, Kahn is a well known jazz pianist, having played in venues around the world. He also plays in pit orchestras for theatrical extravaganzas and for music heard in advertising.
Duke Ellington remains one of the most influential figures in this music. He is widely considered one of the 20th century's best known African American personalities. As both a composer and a band leader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers.
Billy Strayhorn joined Ellington's band in 1939, at the age of twenty-two. Ellington liked what he saw in Billy and took this shy, talented pianist under his wing.
Strayhorn became essential to the Duke Ellington Band; arranging, composing, sitting-in at the piano. Strayhorn made a rapid and almost complete assimilation of Ellington's style and technique. It was difficult to discern where one's style ended and the other's began. The results of the Ellington-Strayhorn collaboration brought much joy to the jazz world.
The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay - a weekend, a week, a month or longer.
The concert is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040 or visit http://www.oakparkarms.com/calendar/2011/january/17/monday-night-concert-serieskahn-plays-ellington.
