Mr Sun records and performs a new interpretation of Ellington’s legendary Nutcracker Suite

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved and familiar melodies in the Western world.
Mr Sun has seized upon the inspiration of Duke Ellington’s brilliant, sly, & urbane re-interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Suite as an opportunity to salute and re-invent this wildly multi-faceted work anew through the lens of the American String Band, a musical form which contains myriad styles and is presently engaged in a marathon upheaval of innovation and expansion.

On Mr Sun’s new recording, the pieces of the Suite range from close interpretations of Billy Strayhorn’s original charts to intense extrapolations based on the spirit of the material.

On the recording, Mr Sun generally played original improvised solos, though some crucial musical statements by giants such as Johnny Hodges and Paul Gonsalves were transcribed directly and played in their spirit.  Most of Strayhorn’s startling original horn voicings have been preserved in bowed strings, with multi-mandolin parts adding a punchy edge.

There is one new additional piece, drawn directly from Tchaikovsky’s Ballet, setting three themes in classic “Dawg Music” format. The Russian Dance is now hilariously full-on Bluegrass with banjo guest Alison Brown while still using the spy-movie intros, outros, and background lines of Strayhorn’s original. Dobro King Jerry Douglas interprets an iconic Lawrence Brown trombone solo on Dance Of The Floreadores, now re-titled “(don’t) Walk On The Flowers”.

Now the band is touring nationally, recreating the sounds of the album – their core quartet is joined by additional regional string players to re-create a full orchestra of sound.

Originally from Far Rockaway Queens, Zachary Brown is a NYC based cellist who focuses on pushing the “expected” musical paradigm of the cello. During his initial instruction at the conservatory at Ithaca College, he attended the Acoustic Music Seminar. There, under the influence and guidance of Mike Marshal, Julian Lage, Bryan Sutton, Edgar Meyer and more, he returned with a drive to do more with the cello, more than just western classical repertoire.

Zach began a concentration in Jazz studies for the remainder of his time to figure out how, as a cellist, to be musically flexible and malleable and not to be confined to a defined style. After school he helped start the group Westbound Situation, a progressive acoustic quartet that strives to seamlessly pull together the styles of music they have studied and are inspired by. Be it a constant, swirling mix of Jazz, bluegrass, funk, classical music etc., this has become his main project. With Westbound Situation, Zach has performed at both jazz venues like The Blue Llama, and as concerto guest artists with the Marquette symphony, trying to constantly push that typical and expected boundary of where string players belong.

Zach has been a guest artist and clinician at the New Directions Cello Festival, the Wintergrass Festival, and multiple education ‘caravans’ with the Riverfolk Music and Arts. In addition to performing with Westbound Situation, Zach has performed with artists Black Violin, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger, and Terrence Blanchard with the Turtle Island String Quartet.