Strayhorn, Ellington celebrated in concert, rare recording

The music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn - alone or in collaboration, as they were for nearly 30 years - represents some of the most sophisticated and complex works in jazz. Together (though rarely in the same room) they penned eccentric yet commercial compositions such as "Tonk" and "Strange Feeling," in which arrangements added subtle classicism to ferociously masculine orchestration.

Each had signature strengths. Ellington was capable of fascinating ethno-rhythmic interplay and romantic melodicism ("Chinoiserie," "Afrique"). Strayhorn had a way with grooves ("Take the 'A' Train"), ardor ("Passion Flower"), and dissonance ("Chelsea Bridge"). When they worked together, a third element was born.

It's a good season for new work related to jazz's most cosmopolitan pair. But the big local celebration will be of Strayhorn's 100th birthday Saturday at the Kimmel Center, with local trumpeter Terell Stafford and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia.

The night will feature Philly saxophonist Benny Golson (whose melodic compositions, such as "Killer Joe," have been compared to Strayhorn), who will do big-band takes on his hits. The second half of the show is dedicated to the debut of "Twists and Turns," a Stafford composition in honor of Ellington trumpeter Clark Terry, who died in February.

"I've wanted to do this here forever," says Stafford,  who participated in the 2009 Celebrating Billy Strayhorn fest in Dayton, Ohio, befriended Strayhorn's relatives in the process, and recorded the album This Side of Strayhorn in 2011.

"I'm like family," Stafford says, "as they've embraced me as one of their own."

What sets Strayhorn apart?

Stafford, artistic director of the 18-piece Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and director of jazz studies at Temple University, says that "Strayhorn wrote haunting lyrics to go with his melodies - ridiculously advanced, cunning, harmonically rich stuff like 'Chelsea Bridge,' which is just a bear to tackle. [Philly-based organist Shirley] Scott used to say they were 'grown folks' tunes.' "

Stafford says he's looking forward to debuting "Twists and Turns" on Saturday, along with the welcome-home for Golson ("the Strayhorn of our generation, so high-caliber"), and the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia's renditions of Strayhorn hits such as "Satin Doll" and "Lush Life."

"Strayhorn's songs are enjoyable and challenging for both an audience and our musicians," he says. "That's attractive and rare."

Talk about rare: Soon the album The Conny Plank Session will be released, with recently discovered recordings from 1970, featuring Ellington and famed German producer/engineer Conny Plank. The tracks, discovered in 2011, were recorded by Ellington in Cologne, Germany, during the summer of 1970 at Rhenus Studios, where Plank worked.

Plank cut his teeth on records by Marlene Dietrich and Peter Brötzmann, and before his death in 1987 he would go on to become a Krautrock avatar for his work with bands such as Kraftwerk and Neu!.

"My father was a fan of Ellington growing up in Kaiserslautern - or 'K-Town,' as it was called by GIs stationed nearby," says Stephan Plank. He's the son of the producer and the president of Groenland Records, which reissues early Krautrock sides from Neu! and Harmonia + Eno (produced by Conny Plank), as well as newer albums from Gang of Four, Holger Czukay, and Fujiya & Miyagi.

He found the Conny Plank Session tapes while moving studios from Cologne to Berlin. He had heard stories about the lost sessions and how much in awe his father had been of Ellington.

When Ellington entered the Cologne studio in need of a rehearsal space, Conny Plank asked if he could record the session. Duke said yes and was deeply impressed with the results.

"Ellington came up to my father and said, 'Young man, you are doing a good sound,' " says Stephan Plank. It was so good that Ellington let the tape keep running. It captured a densely percussive, bass-heavy session of some of his more outré tracks, with rich vocal chorales not often found in the Ellington catalogue.

"For me, it is not like a typical Duke Ellington session, as you can hear influence happening in both directions," says Stephan Plank. The Conny Plank Session is as hard-hitting as it is deliciously bizarre.

Stephan Plank notes that his father's very next sessions, improbably enough, were Kraftwerk's historic first album - the "red traffic-cone cover" of 1971, the album often seen as the beginning of electronica and Krautrock.

"This album," says Stephan Plank, "is the Krautrock side meeting the jazz side."

Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia: Billy Strayhorn Centennial Celebration

8 p.m. Saturday at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Streets.

Tickets: $29-$39.

Information: 215-893-1999 or www.kimmelcenter.org