WDR Big Band

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“Night Train” was originally composed by Duke Ellington as the last part of his extended piece “Happy Go Lucky Local.”

Tenor-saxophonist Jimmy Forrest performed the piece during his short stint with Ellington’s orchestra and then revised it slightly for his recording of “Night Train” which became a big hit in jazz, r&b, and stripper music.

The WDR Big Band, one of the world’s top jazz orchestras, performs “Night Train” with a particularly colorful arrangement by John Clayton that gives the medium-tempo blues some surprises along the way.

The excellent soloists are pianist Billy Test, altoist Martin Gasser, tenor-saxophonist Ben Fitzpatrick, trumpeter Bastian Stein, and trombonist Raphael Klemm with the 18-piece orchestra being conducted by Stefan Pfeifer-Galilea.

A rousing performance

-Scott Yanow

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