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The recent reissue of Duke Ellington’s exotically sonorous The Far East Suite should have generated as much hoopla as all those Frank Zappa re-releases: While both performers were prolific and talented, Ellington created memorable music, not just catchy one-liners. “The Music of Duke Ellington,” as performed by Doug Richards and the Great American Music Ensemble, features the 1966 composition, which was inspired by Ellington’s world tours of nonoccidental countries in the ’50s and ’60s, as well as the Duke’s stomping 1970 composition The New Orleans Suite. At 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. $25. (202) 467-4600. (Christopher Porter)