Just as fans of New Orleans arts and culture cheered the reopening of the Joy Theater at the end of last year, so has Washington, D.C. built excitement around the reopening of its historic Howard Theatre. On Tuesday, April 10, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue headlined an invite-only grand-opening party with special guests George Clinton (as rarely seen in a suit and hat) and Danny Ray, longtime MC for James Brown.

The Howard Theatre first opened in 1910, and by the 1930s it had become a favorite concert venue in Washington. As the capital’s premier venue for jazz and R&B, concerts ranged from Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald in the pre-World War II years to James Brown and Otis Redding in the ’60s and Chuck Brown and other go-go stars in the ’70s. Renovations to the Howard Theatre began in the fall of 2010, and finally reopened this week.

All photos were taken by Dino Perrucci.

[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157629437400726″]