Troubadour Jass Records is excited to announce the 2010 Delfeayo Marsalis release: Sweet Thunder (Duke & Shak). This recording combines Delfeayo’s performance, orchestration and production skills into a jazz masterpiece that would certainly make its contributing historical figures, Duke Ellington & William Shakespeare, proud. Sweet Thunder features a cast of today’s finest jazz performers including Branford & Jason Marsalis, Mulgrew Miller, Victor Goines, Charnett Moffett, Reginald Veal and Winard Harper; all of whom combine modern musings with an “old school” groove, blues and swing. Ellington’s original suite, inspired by Shakespearean themes and characters, was composed for a 15-piece jazz orchestra that featured various solo instrumentalists performing musical sonnets and poems. Delfeayo Marsalis has orchestrated this dramatic work for octet, extended the melodic material and created new solo forms that highlight his group’s individual and collective strengths.