It was the summer of 1975, and New Orleans’ Own DUKES of Dixieland were invited to play with the Grant Park Pops Orchestra in Chicago. The idea of a Dixieland band playing with a symphonic orchestra was intriguing to both the DUKES and the orchestra. Henry Brandon, the conductor, wrote several charts for the band + pops orchestra combination, and the combination sizzled. The DUKES have been performing with symphonies and orchestras ever since. And following each concert, letters arrive exclaiming that the event was a first, with the audience on its feet and second-lining with the DUKES. Today the band has huge shipping boxes of musical scores for band and orchestra, boxes which are sent out to orchestras in advance so that all the musicians can come together “on the same page.” (Henry Brandon, by the way, is well known for writing the music for the Oscar Mayer jingle!)
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