Black Music Sunday: Celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday with jazz

“Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.” -Duke Ellington

• Denise Oliver Velez for Community Contributors Team
• Daily Kos

Around the globe, and especially in the U.K., April 23 is celebrated as National Shakespeare Day, when we commemorate the commonly accepted date for the 1564 birth of the Bard of Avon himself, William Shakespeare. Interestingly, April 23 was also the date of his death in 1616 at age 52.

It should come as no surprise that members of music royalty would pay homage to the magic of Shakespeare’s words in music—including, and perhaps most notably, the…

• Black Music Sunday…