Legendary violinist, composer, and educator Darol Anger joins KGNU’s Joanne Cole to discuss his long, genre-spanning career from co-founding the David Grisman Quintet to his work with Turtle Island String Quartet and his current ensemble, Mr. Sun. Anger shares the inspiration behind the group’s newest project, a bold and joyful re-imagining of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s 1960 jazz-big-band adaptation of The Nutcracker Suite. He talks about arranging Ellington’s masterpiece for an acoustic string band, the deep jazz–R&B roots within American string music, and the band’s upcoming Colorado performance. Anger also highlights the importance of community radio, reflecting on the unique role stations like KGNU play in sustaining music culture, discovery, and artist community (11/12/25).
Joanne Cole: Darrell… Darrell, are you with me?
Darol Anger: I am with you. My middle name is Robert, and my nickname in school and when I was a little kid—which was many thousands of years ago—was Robbie.
Joanne Cole: See, that’s why you picked up on that. I channeled it.
Thank you so much, and I apologize. I’m really bad with numbers. At 10 o’clock I was already ready my time, and then I realized, wait—no—it’s 11. Okay. I played a bunch of diverse music. Darrell, introduce yourself to our listeners here at KGNU. Some may know you, some may not.
Darol Anger: I believe at least two people in the listening audience may know me. I’ve been around for some might say too long, but I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m a fiddle player—freestyle fiddle player. I got my start in the David Grisman Quintet as a founding member.
Since then I’ve had various groups like the Montreux Band, a duet with Mike Marshall—not the ballplayer, but the mandolin, guitar, and everything-else player—and a string quartet called the Turtle Island String Quartet, which made the world safe for jazz string quartets, or at least possible.
More recently, my band Mr. Sun—which I’ve had for 13 years—features former Denver resident and great guitar player Grant Gordy, amazing mandolin player Joe K. Walsh, and great bass player Aidan O’Donnell. That’s probably the most relevant thing to tell you since we are coming to Denver.
Joanne Cole: Which I’m very excited about.
I’ll add that you’re also a professor emeritus at Berklee College of Music, so well done.
Darol Anger: Thank you. I got out before I died in my office.
Joanne Cole: I introduced you thinking you may have played our fundraiser way back when up in Gold Hill—the Charles Sawtelle Mountain Jam, in honor of Charles.
Darol Anger: Yes, I have actually contributed actual money to the station.
Joanne Cole: God love you.
Well, thank you for that. And you know who else was a great supporter of KGNU? The late, great Kinky Friedman. He understood.
We’re talking about this super band: Mr. Sun Plays Ellington’s Nutcracker on Thursday, December 18th from about 7 to 10 p.m. at The Savoy in Denver, located at 2700 Arapahoe Street. I’ve never been there, but I might come hear you play. I was taken by this when I saw it—Jazz Grass Supergroup—and I saw the word “soul,” which is where I come in. I’m not a big bluegrass person, but I love soul music.
I know the soul of jazz, and I guess I’ll say I know the soul of bluegrass to appease everyone. But tell us about this performance and what you’re doing with it.
Darol Anger: As we all know, Duke Ellington was one of the great musical lights of any century. He helped put the sound of jazz on the map and opened the way for many subsequent jazz musicians. He changed the whole approach to modern music.
At one point in his life, with his music partner Billy Strayhorn, he began reimagining great Western European compositions and updating them to contemporary sounds—putting the lower half of the body back into the music.
One of their projects in 1960 was rewriting Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite for jazz big band. It was a huge hit. Nobody had ever thought of doing that. It had a major impact, and big bands worldwide still play Ellington’s Nutcracker today. All the familiar melodies are there, but set in the context of big band with a groove, improvisation, and soloing. It’s funny and wonderful.
We just got the wild idea to take Ellington’s big band music and arrange it for our acoustic string band. We aren’t exactly a bluegrass band—we play bluegrass here and there—but we’re one of the few acoustic string bands focused on R&B and jazz sounds. That’s our wheelhouse. If we’re doing something no one else is doing, it’s finding the R&B–jazz connection inside American string band music.
It felt perfect to arrange Ellington’s music for us. I’ve played a lot of jazz with Turtle Island String Quartet and learned how to convincingly get across jazz and contemporary music in a string quartet.
Everyone in the band is so resourceful. Aiden, our bass player, graduated at the top of his class at the national music school in Edinburgh. The first thing he did after graduating was tour Europe with the school’s big band playing Ellington’s Nutcracker. He knows that music inside and out, which was extremely helpful when translating it for acoustic strings.
Joanne Cole: I have to let folks know—it’s 11 o’clock and you’re listening to KGNU. Our guest is Darrell Anger, the great violinist. We’re talking about Mr. Sun Plays Ellington’s Nutcracker on Thursday, December 18th, showtime 7 p.m. There are just a few tickets left. Are you playing this around the country, and how is it being received?
Darol Anger: As with most Christmas records, once a band puts one out, you’re locked into a certain amount of touring through December. I’ve lived that script a few times with the Windham Hill folks. But this is something special. This is our third year touring this Nutcracker around the country and the world.
I’m excited—this is the first time we’ll be playing it in Colorado. We haven’t been here in a couple of years. We played RockyGrass this past summer, which was great.
We’ll be involving some other resident artists in Denver. We know so many people there and have great relationships. We’re bringing in Charlie Rose, a multi-instrumentalist who has played with Elephant Revival. We do the Russian Dance as a straight-ahead bluegrass tune. Since we don’t have a banjo player, we bring someone local, and who better than Charlie? Also, the great violinist Enion Pelta-Tiller will join us for pieces where we need more of a big band sound.
Joanne Cole: We’re talking about the show on the 18th of December. Colorado probably looks the same to you, but we have less water these days. It was 70 degrees today in Denver and they’re making snow up in the mountains. We had an aurora borealis last night along the Front Range. The night before, we had a sunset like I’ve never seen.
This super band is recreating Ellington’s Nutcracker. Your point about Ellington’s impact on American music—particularly jazz—he doesn’t get his due. Louis Armstrong does, but Ellington’s impact is undeniable. Maybe next membership drive we’ll do a deep dive into Ellington.
Darol Anger: In two hours? You can’t just play one thing. He was so multi-dimensional.
Joanne Cole: Exactly.
Thank you so much for your patience today. The phone didn’t ring, the board wasn’t working. But thank you for staying with us and for your support of independent media.
Darol Anger: My secret ambition all these years has been to be a DJ. I love radio. The people who work in radio are a special breed.
Joanne Cole: I’ll take that as a compliment. Before I let you go, give us a pitch for independent media. Stations like KGNU have launched many careers and supported musicians like yourself.
Darol Anger: If you look up “true believer” in the dictionary, you’ll probably see someone who works at a radio station. Those folks are the backbone of the arts community of this country. Radio reaches between humans to humans. People depend on community radio and local radio for news and for a sense of what’s really happening locally and globally. Music is a huge part of that.
KGNU has been so dedicated to musical artists, and it’s one of the biggest reasons the Front Range is such a powerful spot for music. You can’t get that from an algorithm in a digital box.
Joanne Cole: Exactly. Clear Channel has taken a back seat to Spotify and Pandora. Our guest has been Darrell Anger. He’s performing December 18th at The Savoy Theater in Denver with an all-star band recreating and reimagining The Nutcracker Suite. We’re going to go out with a bit of Duke Ellington’s Overture and then a piece of yours.
Darol Anger: This one was inspired by an old Woody Allen movie with the Orgasmatron. Ours is adapted from ballet music that isn’t in the regular suite. That’s a whole story I’ll tell on stage.
Joanne Cole: December 18th—mark your calendars. Darrell, thank you again.
Darol Anger: My pleasure. Thanks to everyone at the station for their dedication.
Joanne Cole: Thank you for your kind words. We’ll see you on the 18th.
Darol Anger: Yay.
