Throughout the history of jazz, there have always been musicians who sought to combine it with classical music. "Ebony Concerto" is one in a long line of music from the twenties to the present day that seeks to do this. Herman said about the "Concerto": ""Ebony Concerto" is a very delicate and a very sad piece." Stravinsky felt that the jazz musicians would have a hard time with the various time signatures. Saxophonist Flip Philips said, "During the rehearsal [...] there was a passage I had to play there and I was playing it soft, and Stravinsky said 'Play it, here I am!' and I blew it louder and he threw me a kiss!" In his own original way Stravinsky noticed the massive amount of smoking at the recording session: "the atmosphere looked like Pernod clouded by water." "Ebony Concerto" was performed live by the Herman band on March 25, 1946 at Carnegie Hall.