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Duke Ellington




Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (Born: April 29, 1899 in Washington, DC -
Died: May 24, 1974 in New York City) was an American jazz composer, pianist
and bandleader. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and
in 1973, the Legion of Honor by France. Both are the highest civilian honors
of each country.

Duke Ellington was a major force in jazz from the 1920s through the 1960s
and his work continues to be influential today. He is considered by many to
be the greatest American composer. He had many hits including "Take the A
Train", "Satin Doll", "Rockin' in Rhythm", "Mood Indigo", "Caravan" and
"Sophisticated Lady". Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Ellington often shared
composer credit with his manager Irving Mills until they had a falling out
in the late 1930s. Billy Strayhorn became Ellington's collaborator (not
always credited) from 1940 until Strayhorn's death in the mid 1960s.

His works were always tailored to the talents of the musicians in his band,
including Johnny Hodges, Bubber Miley, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, Barney
Bigard, Ben Webster, Harry Carney, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke, and Wellman
Braud. Many musicians stayed with him for decades.

Ellington started playing around Washington D.C. in his teens, then formed a
band "The Washingtonians", which he moved to New York City in 1923.
Ellington & The Washingtonians played at various New York Clubs and toured
New England as a dance band until they got their first big break in 1927.
When the then much better known Joe "King" Oliver held out for more money at
the prestigous Cotton Club, the job as house band was offered to Ellington.
This was the best known of the Harlem clubs, and "Duke Ellington and his
Jungle Band" became well known nationally thanks to the regular radio
broadcasts from the Cotton Club.

In this setting Elligton had a chance to write music in a variety of styles
for dance theater acts as well as extended specialties for the band. These
appearances featured many experiments in tonality, with trumpet screams and
wah-wah, and growling saxophones. When Ellington left the Cotton Club in
1931 he was one of the best known African-American celebrities, recording
regularly for several record companies and featured in motion pictures.
Ellington continued to tour with his band around the United States and
Europe, plus a tour of much of the rest of the world in the 1960s.

He was a musical experimenter all his life, recording with John Coltrane and
Charles Mingus as well as with his own highly skilled orchestra. The band
reached a creative peak in the 1940s, when he wrote for an orchestra of
distinctive voices and tremendous creativity. Some of these musicians, such
as Jimmy Blanton, transformed jazz during the short time they played with him.

But even as players left and the popularity of swing diminished, Ellington
continued to find new outlets, new forms and new sidemen. He frequently
composed in longer forms modelled on classical music, such as his "Black,
Brown and Beige" (1943), and "Such Sweet Thunder" (1957), based on
Shakespeare. His "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" with a rocking saxophone
interval by Paul Gonsalves in 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956
greatly increased his fame and drawing power.

He also wrote for films, starting with Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929, but
also Anatomy of a Murder (1959) with James Stewart, in which he appeared as
a bandleader, and Paris Blues (1961), which featured Paul Newman and Sidney
Poitier as jazz musicians.

Ellington was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1965, but was turned down.
His reaction: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous
too young."

Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 and was interred in the Woodlawn
Cemetery, The Bronx, New York.

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