Ellington, Duke

orig. Edward Kennedy Ellington

Duke Ellington.

(credit: Reprinted with permission of Down Beat magazine)

(born April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died May 24, 1974, New York, N.Y.) U.S. pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. He formed his band in 1924 in Washington, D.C.; by 1927 it was performing regularly at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Until the end of his life his band would enjoy the highest professional and artistic reputation in jazz. First known for his distinctive “jungle” sound—a description derived from the use of growling muted brass and sinister harmonies—Ellington increasingly integrated blues elements into his music. He composed with the idiosyncratic sounds of his instrumentalists in mind. Many of his players spent most of their careers with the band; they included saxophonists Johnny Hodges and Harry Carney, bassist Jimmy Blanton, trombonists Tricky Sam Nanton and Lawrence Brown, and trumpeters Bubber Miley and Cootie Williams. Pianist Billy Strayhorn was Ellington's frequent collaborator. Ellington composed a massive body of work, including music for dancing, popular songs, large-scale concert works, musical theatre, and film scores. His best-known compositions include “Mood Indigo,” “Satin Doll,” “Don't Get Around Much Anymore,” and “Sophisticated Lady.”

Ellington, Edward Kennedy

(nickname, Duke). Born Apr. 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C.; died May 24, 1974, in New York, N.Y. American Negro jazz-orchestra leader, pianist, and composer. Member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1970).

Beginning in 1916, Ellington performed with many jazz bands as a piano soloist. In 1918 he organized the Washingtonians, which, from the 1930’s, comprised virtuoso musicians and with which he toured’ the USA and, between 1933 and 1972, many countries throughout the world. He composed lyric songs, jazz concerti, music for motion pictures and television, the opera Queenie Pie, and symphonic suites; he also wrote numerous arrangements.

An innovative composer, Ellington turned to large-scale cyclic forms in such works as the Sacred Concerts; he also used African instruments, which allowed him to create special sound colors. Prominent singers appeared with his orchestra, which, on occasion, gave concerts in churches. Ellington performed in the USSR in 1971.

REFERENCES

Ulanov, B. Duke Ellington. New York [1946].
Duke Ellington: His Life and Music. London, 1958.
Dance, S. The World of Duke Ellington. New York, 1970.

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