
![]()
Wynton Marsalis says of Duke Ellington’s groundbreaking masterpiece Black, Brown and Beige. Since its 1943 debut at Carnegie Hall, the piece—a sprawling survey of African American history—has been heralded as one of the most significant compositions in American orchestral music. Continue reading








A memorial for actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee is scheduled to begin Saturday, September 20 at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT. The service will be held at the Riverside Church in New York and will feature music by Alicia Keys and Audra McDonald, reflections by former Mayor David Dinkins and Sonia Sanchez, and a eulogy by Harry Belafonte. Dee died June 11 at 91. 




