Novel Jazz Submitted photo

Novel Jazz will perform in the Poland Spring Preservation Sunset Concert Series at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, July 17, at the gazebo at the Poland Spring Inn, 640, Maine St. in Poland.

Novel Jazz has been a fixture in the Maine jazz scene for almost two decades. Their mission is to share the music and stories of jazz icons, Duke Ellington and his side-kick Billy Strayhorn. Between them, they wrote some 2,500-3,000 compositions over their musical careers, two percent of which represent the well-known standards and 98% of which represent rarely heard gems. The septet will perform standard tunes from the Ellington/Strayhorn repertoire plus newly arranged compositions that they have unearthed from original recordings, the Ellington Archives of the Smithsonian Museum of American History as well as the Strayhorn Collection at the Library of Congress, both in Washington D.C. Novel Jazz members have dusted these pieces off, rearranged them for the septet, and given them a 21st century sound, all of their own.

Admission is $5 per person. The gate opens at 6 p.m. Chairs are available or bring your own or a picnic blanket. Complimentary water is provided by the Poland Spring Bottling Company. If there is inclement weather, the concert will be moved indoors to the Poland Spring Inn.