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Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899 to 1974) was as pianist one of the most important innovators of the stride piano. As composer he published nearly 2,000 compositions, of which 100 became jazz standards by and by. As band leader he contributed to the development of swing as Bigband style. Duke Ellington was due to his lordly charisma and polished manners nicknamed "Duke" early in his youth by his schoolmates. He began his professional career as musician when he was 17 years old. Duke Ellington was not only active as a piano accompanist, but also as band leader. At the age of 24, when he moved with a group of musicians from Washington to New York, he founded the The Washingtonians band. As the famous King Oliver left the well-known Cotton Club, the job was offered to Duke Ellington as house band in the most famous night club of its time in New York. Gradually, the Washingtonians became the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The Jungle Style became its trademark at the time. As Ellington left the Cotton Club in 1931, he was one of the most well-known Afro-Americans. The

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Duke Ellington

American jazz pianist and composer (1899–1974)

Musical artist

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.^[1]

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz.

At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion.^[2] With Strayhorn, he com

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When big bands declined in popularity after World War II, Ellington used the royalties he earned from composing to financially support his bandmates. But he wasn’t out of the spotlight for long. His triumphant performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 reminded the world of his prodigious abilities. In the 1960s and 1970s, Ellington also performed as a “jazz ambassador” on cultural diplomatic missions for the U.S. State Department.

Ellington’s music consistently reflected his strong beliefs. When asked about composing a civil rights work in the 1960s, he famously replied, “I did my piece more than 20 years ago when I wrote Jump for Joy.” The all-Black musical revue, he later said, was “. . . done on a highly intellectual level. No crying, no moaning, but entertaining, and with social demands as a potent spice.”

On May 24, 1974, Ellington died of lung cancer in New York City, leaving behind a remarkable body of work. Among his credits are hits like “In A Sentimental Mood,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good),” “I’m Beginning To See Th