The Novel Jazz Septet will celebrate the music of great American jazz icons Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn in concert at the Phippsburg Congregational Church on Sunday, September 14, at 3:00 p.m. The band will highlight well-known standards of the musical legends, plus rare vintage gems recently unearthed from original scores in the Duke Ellington collection at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

For years now, Novel Jazz Septet has been mining the rich musical collections of these jazz giants, a partnership that resulted in about 3000 original compositions. Through regular trips to the Ellington Collection at the Smithsonian and to the Strayhorn Collection at the University of Chicago, band leader Barney Balch has located original scores of their lesser-known and rarely recorded compositions, which the band arranges for performance. Balch says “It is not uncommon to find their writings, poetry and personal letters mixed in amongst the music in the Smithsonian archives, all of which we weave into the stories of each tune. We relish bringing this music back to life—but we do it with a 21st century spin.” Balancing out the rarities will be plenty of classics associated with Ellington and/or Strayhorn - an astonishing canon that includes Lush Life, Take The “A” Train, Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo, and It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing).

The group is composed of seasoned players with rich jazz resumés. Band leader Balch has played in bands from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, California, and Florida. He studied with trombonist Jimmy Cheatham, a veteran of orchestras led by Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, and Thad Jones. He has also performed with musicians hailing from bands led by jazz greats Glenn Miller, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, and Jack Teagarden.

The rest of the accomplished ensemble includes David Clarke (guitar), Mickey Felder (piano), Herb Maine (acoustic bass), Mike Mitchell (trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn), Bill Manning (drums) and Nathaniel Johengen (reeds).

The ensemble has played many key New England venues and festivals including the Boothbay Opera House, Portland’s One Longfellow Square, Portsmouth’s Press Room, Ellsworth’s Grand Theatre, Frontier Theatre, the University of Maine, the Deer Isle Jazz Festival, Machias Bay Chamber Concert Series, and has been featured in performance several times on Rich Tozier’s MPBN jazz show.

The historic Phippsburg Congregational Church is located at 10 Church Lane (at Parker Head Rd.) in Phippsburg.