Duke Ellington (1899–1974,) born Edward Kennedy Ellington, was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. For over half a century, Ellington composed thousands of scores. His band created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in all of Western music.
Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington received his only formal musical education through elementary piano lessons. Influenced while young by ragtime performers, he began to perform professionally at age 17. In 1927, he started a four-year residence at the Cotton Club in Harlem, which offered him a high-profile live engagement and regular radio airtime access.
Ellington’s music was primarily written and performed as the accompaniment for dance shows. He emerged as one of the most prominent jazz composers of all time and produced around 2,000 works. His notable works include Mood Indigo (1930.)
Ellington broke new ground in jazz by writing extended works and suites like Black, Brown, and Beige (1943) and The Perfume Suite (1945.) He also wrote and performed music for films, the most important of which were Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961.)
Ellington’s vast discography is among the richest in jazz. He wrote a memoir, Music is My Mistres (1973.) His son Mercer Ellington wrote the memoir, Duke Ellington, In Person (1978.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Duke Ellington
Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
—Duke Ellington
Topics: Adversity, Optimism
There are two kinds of worries—those you can do something about and those you can’t. Don’t spend any time on the latter.
—Duke Ellington
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