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.