One word is already amounting to a major theme of jazz releases this year and that is: Duke. Of course, it’s Duke as in Ellington, and with Mark Lockheart releasing his remarkable Ellington in Anticipation record and heading out on tour http://marlbank.tumblr.com/post/38943427946/265 , the uncanny Ellingtonian homage in Adrian Johnston’s original music for Dancing on the Edge http://marlbank.tumblr.com/post/40600198373/2847525 set to reach a TV audience next month, the early part of 2013 will also see the release of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s new Spartacus records album In the Spirit of Duke. Recorded in the autumn of last year actually in Scotland the album follows the SNJO’s 2012 debut for ECM, Celebration, which featured Norwegian bass supremo Arild Andersen. Tracks on the new album are thought to include ‘Black & Tan Fantasy’, ‘Concerto for Cootie’, ‘Harlem Airshaft’, ‘The Single Petal of a Rose’, and movements from ‘The Queenʼs Suite’, plus the Ellington Strayhorn jazz adaptation of Edvard Griegʼs ‘Peer Gynt Suite’. Soloists on the album include pianist Brian Kellock, trumpeters Tom MacNiven and Ryan Quigley, alto saxophonist Ru Pattison, and director Tommy Smith on saxophone adopting the role of Paul Gonsalves on the Ellingtonian’s celebrated Newport crowdstealer, ‘Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.’ SG
In the Spirit of Duke is released on 13 March. Members of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with Tommy Smith pictured top. Upcoming SNJO dates with guest trumpeter Paolo Fresu are Caird Hall, Dundee,  21 February; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 22 Feb; Royal Conservatoire, Glasgow, 23 Feb; and Macrobert, Stirling, 24 Feb