DENNIS BROE enjoys the political edge of a series that unmasks British imperialism, resonates with the present and has been buried by Disney
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Salute to Duke Ellington, Cafe Oto London
Pat Thomas pays memorable tribute to the ‘Duke’
True genius: Duke Ellington in 1971
[Louis Panassie/Creative Commons] 
STEVE JOHNSON speaks to DJ and singer/songwriter Mark Radcliffe
JAMES WALSH takes advantage of an evening of comedy snippets to pick out which clowns will make it in Edinburgh
MAYER WAKEFIELD is swept up by the tale of the south London venue where music forged alliances across race, class and identity
MAYER WAKEFIELD applauds Rosamund Pike’s punchy and tragic portrayal of a multi-tasking mother and high court judge
FIONA O CONNOR recommends an unflinching depiction of child sexual abuse and its aftershocks, set in a working-class Liverpool family
APRIL 29 was the 120th anniversary of the birth of Edward “Duke” Ellington, the greatest American orchestral innovator of the last century and commemorating his genius on solo piano at this gig is marvellous Antigua-rooted pianist, Pat Thomas.
For Thomas, Ellington is the epitome of jazz and all creative music and he himself has built a reputation for his brilliant free improvisation excursions with confrere Orphy Robinson.
Yet here he is both in the tradition yet simultaneously beyond it. He begins with Prelude to a Kiss and the hammer blows of his chords combine huge manual effort with gentle and serene melody.
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