Joining the ranks of Buffalo Tom, Janeane Garofalo and moe this past fall at the Armory, POP Presents: Aardvark Jazz Orchestra – No Walls, Jazz Beyond Category, Music by Mark Harvey and Duke Ellington.
Many Boston jazz fans looking for a night out with an invigorating big band jazz orchestra concert experience got a special treat on September 9, 2025. The recent show was inspired by a fresh take on Duke Ellington’s credo to move “beyond category” in music and life. The Aardvark concert set list featured wide-ranging jazz pieces by Duke Ellington and Aardvark Jazz Orchestra director Mark Harvey. Duke Ellington’s work, “It’s Freedom” (1968), evoked the larger U.S. Civil Rights struggle and the powerful Freedom Songs of the 1960s. Duke’s jazz composition “Chinoiserie” reflected his vision of cross-cultural exchange.
The modern jazz concert also took a walk down Boston’s colonial past, as it commemorated the 250th anniversary of the founding of America with the premiere of Mark Harvey’s arrangement of “Chester” by Revolutionary War-era Boston composer William Billings. The historical Billings piece (1770), widely recognized in U.S. music history as an anthem of the struggle for independence, found new meaning in Mark Harvey’s jazz orchestra arrangement, celebrating freedom and democracy today.
The jazz concert finale was “No Walls,” Mark Harvey’s exotic, multi-layered jazz suite that moved through many styles to a vibrant expression of inclusivity inspired by Ellington’s protégé, the South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim.
It was a night to remember in Somerville at the Armory with its intimate cabaret seating.
This concert event was made possible by a Project Grant from the Somerville Arts Council and the Mass Cultural Council, and with support from Arts at the Armory POP.
POP (Performance Opportunity Program) is a signature program of the Center for Arts at the Armory. Arts at the Armory fundraises to be able to provide artists and cultural workers with use of the Armory Performance Hall at a highly subsidized rate through POP.
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Show: 7:30 PM
Front Section Cabaret Table Seating: $30
General Admission: $25
Click here for tickets and venue info
This is an All Ages show