Here’s an album for the quarter-century retrospective, and Grammy-nominated. This 1999 release was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance (album).
A tribute to a 1966 Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn classic. Alex Henderson/AllMusic: “While Ellington's orchestra stuck to traditional instruments, [drummer Anthony] Brown's outfit combined them with various Asian and Middle Eastern instruments, which range from Chinese bamboo flutes to the daf (a Persian/Iranian drum) and the ney (a Middle Eastern flute). The end result is … fresh-sounding instead of clichéd.”
This was the Orchestra's 2nd of 4 albums from 1998 to 2010. Orchestra’s Discogs. This was Anthony’s 1st of 4 Grammy nominations. Anthony's Wikipedia.
Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra, Far East Suite, full album: YouTube ; Spotify
This is on the Jazz Best Albums 1999 playlist at Spotify/Jazz Todayish. 😎