Music Was His Mistress: The Sophisticated Sounds of Duke Ellington

Legendary jazz musician and bandleader Duke Ellington, famous for such standards as Mood Indigo, Take the A Train and Sophisticated Lady, composed thousands of scores for the stage, screen and contemporary songbook over his 50 year career. Ellington overcame racial, social and musical obstacles to create his own unique blend of complex yet accessible jazz. Enjoy this illustrated lecture, including video clips and musical selections performed by Jonno. Presented in honour of Black History Month.

Jonno Lightstone is regarded as one of Toronto’s finest klezmer musicians. A clarinetist, who is equally at home on flute and saxophone, Jonno has performed with the touring Broadway show Evita, Zalman Mlotek’s Soul to Soul and has played at many festivals including: Ashkenaz, The Distillery Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival and Caribana. He is the leader of the Yiddish Swingtet, the founder of Hu tsa tsa, a traditional klezmer group with a chamber music aesthetic, and he is the musical director of Klezkonnection, Canada’s largest community klezmer orchestra. Jonno has produced and played on a number of CDs including: Hu tsa tsa’s Well Tempered Klezmorim, The Hot Latkes Klezmer Band’s Eine Kleine Klezmer Muzik, Matzo Ball Gumbo’s Peyes Up Front, and The Yiddish Swingtet’s Shul Days. At the Miles Nadal JCC, Jonno has given many lectures, including ‘The Duelling Clarinetists: Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw’, ‘What Makes a Jazz Standard?’ and ‘Are You Hep to the Jive? The Music of Cab Calloway’.