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Atlantic City
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Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia University) is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. It was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain, and is one of only three United States universities to have been founded under such authority.
http://wn.com/Columbia_University -
Cotton Club
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Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2009, its population was estimated at 95,556, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 200,102. Fargo, along with its twin city of Moorhead, Minnesota, as well as adjacent West Fargo, North Dakota and Dilworth, Minnesota, form the center of the Fargo-Moorhead, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area."
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Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem was annexed to New York City in 1873.
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Philadelphia
Philadelphia () is the largest city in Pennsylvania, sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the fifty-first most populous city in the world.
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Roseland Ballroom
The Roseland Ballroom (also referred to as Roseland Dance City) is a multi-purpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theatre district, on West 52nd Street.
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Royce Hall
Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison (James Edward Allison, 1870-1955, and his brother David Clark Allison, 1881-1962) in the Italian Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1929, it is one of the four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus and has come to be the defining image of the university. Named after Josiah Royce, a California-born philosopher who received his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in 1875, the building's exterior is modeled after Milan's Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.
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Smithsonian
http://wn.com/Smithsonian -
The Bronx
http://wn.com/The_Bronx -
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. (), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. Article One of the United States Constitution provides for a federal district, distinct from the states, to serve as the permanent national capital. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the federal territory until an act of Congress in 1871 established a single, unified municipal government for the whole District. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington, which is located on the country's Pacific coast.
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Woodley Park, D.C.
http://wn.com/Woodley_Park_DC
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Aaron Bell
Samuel Aaron Bell (April 24, 1922, Muskogee, Oklahoma - July 28, 2003) was an American jazz double-bassist.
http://wn.com/Aaron_Bell -
Al Hibbler
Albert George "Al" Hibbler (August 16, 1915 – April 24, 2001) was an American baritone vocalist who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of his singing is classified as rhythm and blues, but he is best classified as a bridge between R&B; and traditional pop music. According to one authority, "Hibbler cannot be regarded as a jazz singer but as an exceptionally good interpreter of twentieth-century popular songs who happened to work with some of the best jazz musicians of the time."
http://wn.com/Al_Hibbler -
Al Jolson
http://wn.com/Al_Jolson -
Al Killian
Al Killian (October 15, 1916 – September 5, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player and occasional bandleader during the big band era, also known for playing jump blues and East Coast blues. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama.
http://wn.com/Al_Killian -
Al Sears
Al Sears (February 21, 1910, Macomb, Illinois-March 23, 1990, New York City) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and bandleader.
http://wn.com/Al_Sears -
Alice Babs
Alice Babs (born Hildur Alice Nilsson in January 26, 1924) is a singer and actor from Kalmar in Sweden. While she has worked in a wide number of genres - e.g. Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera - she is best known internationally as a jazz singer. Making her breakthrough in Swing it magistern (Swing It, Teacher!) (1940), she appeared in more than a dozen Swedish language-films. Despite playing the well-behaved, good-hearted, cheerful girl, the youth culture forming with Alice Babs as its icon caused outrage among members of the older generation. A vicar called the Alice Babs cult the "foot and mouth disease to cultural life".
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Amos 'n' Andy
'Amos 'n' Andy' is a situation comedy based on stock sketch comedy characters but set in the African-American community. It was very popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s on both radio and television.
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Andre Previn
http://wn.com/Andre_Previn -
André Previn
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Art Baron
Art Baron (b. January 5, 1950 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American jazz trombonist. He also plays didgeridoo, conch shell, penny-whistle, alto and bass recorder, and tuba.
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Arthur Whetsol
Arthur Whetsol was an early "sweet" trumpeter for Duke Ellington's Washingtonians.
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Barry Ulanov
http://wn.com/Barry_Ulanov -
Ben Webster
http://wn.com/Ben_Webster -
Benny Carter
Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King. In 1958, he performed with Billie Holiday at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival.
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Benny Goodman
In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman (May 30, 1909 - June 13, 1986) led one of the most popular musical groups in America. His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music."
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Betty Roché
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Billie Holiday
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Billy Strayhorn
http://wn.com/Billy_Strayhorn -
Bob Dylan
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Booty Wood
Mitchell W. Wood, better known as Booty Wood (December 27, 1919, Dayton, Ohio - June 10, 1987, Dayton) was an American jazz trombonist.
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Britt Woodman
http://wn.com/Britt_Woodman -
Bubber Miley
http://wn.com/Bubber_Miley -
Buster Cooper
George "Buster" Cooper (born April 4, 1929) is an American jazz trombonist.
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Butch Ballard
George Edward "Butch" Ballard (born December 26, 1918) is an American jazz drummer who during his long career has played with musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
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Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable. McRae drew inspiration from Billie Holiday, but established her own distinctive voice. She went on to record over 60 albums, enjoying a rich musical career, performing and recording in the United States, Europe, and Japan.
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Cat Anderson
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Charles Ives
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.
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Charlie Parker
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Chick Webb
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Clark Terry
Clark Terry (born December 14, 1920) is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, and NEA Jazz Masters inductee.
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Claude Bolling
Claude Bolling (born 10 April 1930), is a renowned French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor.
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Claude Debussy
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Claude Hopkins
Claude Driskett Hopkins (1903–1984) was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader.
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Cliff Jackson
Clifton Luther "Cliff" Jackson (July 19, 1902, Culpeper, Virginia - May 24, 1970, New York City) was an American jazz stride pianist.
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Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was the first important jazz musician to use the instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". While Hawkins is most strongly associated with the swing music and big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s,
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Constant Lambert
Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer and conductor.
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Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 - September 15, 1985) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter.
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Count Basie
William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".
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Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (born December 6, 1920) is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills. His music is known for employing unusual time signatures, and superimposing contrasting rhythms, meters, and tonalities.
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Dick Hyman
http://wn.com/Dick_Hyman -
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer.
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Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist.
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Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a composer, pianist, and big band leader.
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Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, universally known as Earl "Fatha" Hines, (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983) was "one of a small number of pianists whose playing shaped the history of jazz".
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Eddie Foy, Jr.
Eddie Foy Jr. (February 4, 1905 - July 15, 1983) was an American character actor.
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Eddie Preston
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Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the Romantic period. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.
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Ella Fitzgerald
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Elmer Snowden
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Ernie Royal
http://wn.com/Ernie_Royal -
Eubie Blake
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Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928) is an American R&B; and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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Fats Waller
http://wn.com/Fats_Waller -
Florenz Ziegfeld
http://wn.com/Florenz_Ziegfeld -
Frank Sinatra
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Fred Guy
Fred Guy (b. May 23, 1897, Burkesville, Georgia - d. Dec. 22, 1971) was an American jazz banjo player and guitarist.
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Freddie Jenkins
Freddie "Posey" Jenkins (October 10, 1906 - 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter.
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Frederick Delius
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Gary Giddins
Gary Giddins (born March 21, 1948) is an American jazz critic, author, and director, best known for his longtime work with The Village Voice. Born in Brooklyn, and raised on Long Island, Giddins graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1970. After some freelance work as a music and film critic, in 1974 he started writing his column "Weather Bird" for the Village Voice, which he ended in December 2003.
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George Gershwin
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George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE (born August 13, 1919) is an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group which recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he has had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.
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Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller (born November 22, 1925) is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.
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Gus Kahn
http://wn.com/Gus_Kahn -
Harold Arlen
http://wn.com/Harold_Arlen -
Harold Ashby
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Harry Carney
Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 - October 8, 1974) was a swing baritone saxophonist, clarinetist, and bass clarinetist best known for his 45-year tenure in Duke Ellington's band. Carney started off in Ellington's band playing alto, but soon switched to the baritone. His strong, steady saxophone often served as the anchor of Duke's music. He also played clarinet and bass clarinet on occasion.
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Harry Truman
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Hayes Alvis
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Herb Jeffries
Herbert "Herb" Jeffries (born September 24, 1913, Detroit, Michigan) is an American jazz singer and actor.
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Herbie Jones
Herbie Jones (1926, Miami - March 19, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter and arranger.
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Hilton Jefferson
Hilton Jefferson (30 July 1903–14 November 1968) was an American jazz alto saxophonist born in Danbury, CT, perhaps best-known for leading the saxophone section from 1940-1949 in the Cab Calloway band. Jefferson is said to have been "a soft, delicate saxophone player, with an exquisite sensibility."
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Irving Mills
Irving Mills (January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was a jazz music publisher, also known by the name of Joe Primrose.
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Irving Townsend
Irving Townsend (1920-1981) was an American record producer and author. He is most famous for having produced, in March 1959, the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue, which at #12, is the highest-ranked jazz album on ''Rolling Stone's'' 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and according to the RIAA, is the best-selling jazz album of all time. He later served as president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States from 1969-.
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Jack Towers
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James "Bubber" Miley
James Wesley "Bubber" Miley (April 3, 1903–May 20, 1932) was an early jazz trumpeter and cornet player, specializing in the use of the plunger mute.
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James P. Johnson
James P. Johnson [also known as Jimmy Johnson] (February 1, 1894–November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. With Luckey Roberts, Johnson was arguably the most important pioneer of the stride style of jazz piano playing.
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Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
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Jimmy Dorsey
James "Jimmy" Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD". He composed the standards "I'm Glad There is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and "It's the Dreamer in Me".
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Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante (February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. His jokes about his nose included referring to it as a "Schnozzola", and the word became his nickname.
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Jimmy Forrest
Jimmy Forrest (January 24, 1920 - August 26, 1980) was an African American jazz musician who played tenor saxophone throughout his career.
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Jimmy Hamilton
Jimmy Hamilton (25 May 1917 – 20 September 1994) was an American jazz clarinetist, tenor saxophonist, arranger, composer, and music educator, best known for his twenty-five years with Duke Ellington.
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Jimmy Stewart
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Jimmy Woode
Jimmy Woode (born James Bryant Woode, 23 September 1926, Philadelphia – 23 April 2005, Lindenwold, New Jersey) was a jazz bassist. His father, also named Jimmy Woode, was a music teacher and pianist who played with Hot Lips Page. Woode studied piano and bass in Boston at Boston University and at the Conservatory of Music, as well as at the Philadelphia Academy.
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Joe Benjamin
http://wn.com/Joe_Benjamin -
Joe Pass
http://wn.com/Joe_Pass -
John Coltrane
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John Steinbeck
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Johnny Coles
Johnny Coles (July 3, 1926, Trenton, New Jersey - December 21, 1997, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American jazz trumpeter.
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Johnny Hodges
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Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 173231 May 1809), known as Joseph Haydn (; ), was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these genres. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in the evolution of sonata form.
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Joya Sherrill
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Juan Tizol
Juan Tizol (22 January 1900 – 23 April 1984) was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.
http://wn.com/Juan_Tizol -
Junior Raglin
Alvin "Junior" Raglin (March 16, 1917 - November 10, 1955) was an American swing jazz double-bassist.
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Kay Davis
Katherine McDonald Wimp stage name Kay Davis (born December 5, 1920) was an American jazz singer best known for her time with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
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Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.
http://wn.com/Kenny_Burrell -
Lou Blackburn
Lou Blackburn (born November 12, 1922) was an American jazz trombonist born in Rankin, Pennsylvania who performed in several genres, especially the swing genre. He also performed in the West Coast jazz and soul jazz mediums. During the 1950s he played swing music with Lionel Hampton, and also Charlie Ventura. In the early 1960s he began performing with musicians like Cat Anderson, among others. He also appears on the album Mingus at Monterey by Charles Mingus. He also did crossover work with The Beach Boys and The Turtles, among others. Since 1970 he lived in Germany, where he toured successfully with his ethno jazz band Mombasa. 1990 he died in Berlin.
http://wn.com/Lou_Blackburn -
Louie Bellson
Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni (July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), better known by the stage name Louie Bellson (his own preferred spelling, although he is often seen in sources as Louis Bellson), was an Italian-American jazz drummer. He was a composer, arranger, bandleader, and jazz educator, and is credited with pioneering the use of two bass drums.
http://wn.com/Louie_Bellson -
Louis Armstrong
http://wn.com/Louis_Armstrong -
Louis Metcalf
Louis Metcalf (February 28, 1905 - October 27, 1981) was a jazz cornetist and trumpeter. He played for a short time with Duke Ellington for which he is best remembered.
http://wn.com/Louis_Metcalf -
Luckey Roberts
http://wn.com/Luckey_Roberts -
Major Holley
Major Holley (July 10, 1924, Detroit, Michigan - October 25, 1990, Maplewood, New Jersey) was an American jazz upright bassist.
http://wn.com/Major_Holley -
Martial Solal
http://wn.com/Martial_Solal -
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams (May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.
http://wn.com/Mary_Lou_Williams -
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (September 12, 1888 – January 1, 1972) was a French actor, singer, and popular vaudeville entertainer. Chevalier's signature songs included "Louise", "Mimi", "Valentine", and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". His trademark was a boater hat, which he always wore on stage with his tuxedo (dinner jacket).
http://wn.com/Maurice_Chevalier -
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875December 28, 1937) was a French composer of Impressionist music known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects. Much of his piano music, chamber music, vocal music and orchestral music has entered the standard concert repertoire.
http://wn.com/Maurice_Ravel -
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.
http://wn.com/Max_Roach -
McHenry Boatwright
McHenry Boatwright (February 29, 1928November 5, 1994) was an American operatic bass-baritone and singing teacher.
http://wn.com/McHenry_Boatwright -
Mercer Ellington
Mercer Kennedy Ellington (11 March 1919 – 8 February 1996) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger.
http://wn.com/Mercer_Ellington -
Michael Langham
Michael Langham (born August 22, 1919 in Bridgwater, England) is a British actor and director, who has spent much of his career living and working in Canada and the United States. He studied law at the University of London before enlisting in the British Army in 1939. After spending five years as a prisoner of war, Langham set his sights on the theatre and led several repertory theatres in the U.K. including Coventry (1946-48), Birmingham (1948-50) and Glasgow (1953-54).
http://wn.com/Michael_Langham -
Miles Davis
http://wn.com/Miles_Davis -
Milt Jackson
Milton "Milt" Jackson (January 1, 1923 - October 9, 1999) was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his coolly swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with several hard bop and post-bop players.
http://wn.com/Milt_Jackson -
Money Johnson
Harold "Money" Johnson (February 23, 1918, Tyler, Texas - March 28, 1978, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter.
http://wn.com/Money_Johnson -
Murray McEachern
Murray McEachern (16 August 1915–28 April 1982) was a Canadian jazz trombonist and alto saxophonist born in Toronto, perhaps best-known for having played trombone for Benny Goodman from 1936-1937. McEachern is equally remembered for playing both the trombone and alto saxophone for the Casa Loma Orchestra from 1937-1941.
http://wn.com/Murray_McEachern -
Nelson Williams
Nelson "Cadillac" Williams (September 26, 1917, Montgomery, Alabama - 1973, Voorburg, Holland) was an American jazz trumpeter.
http://wn.com/Nelson_Williams -
Norris Turney
Norris Turney (September 8, 1921, Wilmington, Ohio - January 17, 2001, Kettering, Ohio) was an American jazz flautist and saxophonist.
http://wn.com/Norris_Turney -
Oscar Hammerstein II
http://wn.com/Oscar_Hammerstein_II -
Oscar Peterson
http://wn.com/Oscar_Peterson -
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford (30 September 1922 – 8 September 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer known particularly for his pioneering work in bebop.
http://wn.com/Oscar_Pettiford -
Otto Hardwick
Otto James "Toby" Hardwicke (May 31, 1904 - August 5, 1970) was a saxophone player associated with Duke Ellington.
http://wn.com/Otto_Hardwick -
Otto Preminger
http://wn.com/Otto_Preminger -
Paul Gonsalves
Paul Gonsalves, ( - ) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
http://wn.com/Paul_Gonsalves -
Paul Newman
http://wn.com/Paul_Newman -
Percy Grainger
George Percy Grainger (8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer and pianist who worked under the stage name of Percy Aldridge Grainger.
http://wn.com/Percy_Grainger -
Peter Giger
Peter Giger (born April 12, 1939 in Zurich, grown up in and near to Berne) is a Swiss percussionist and bandleader.
http://wn.com/Peter_Giger -
Queen Esther Marrow
Queen Esther Marrow is an American soul and gospel singer.
http://wn.com/Queen_Esther_Marrow -
Quentin Jackson
Quentin "Butter" Jackson (born January 13, 1909 in Springfield, Ohio; died October 2, 1976 in New York City) was an American jazz trombonist. In the early stage of his career he worked with Cab Calloway and was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Later he did notable work with Charles Mingus, Kenny Burrell, and others.
http://wn.com/Quentin_Jackson -
Ralph J. Gleason
Ralph J. Gleason (1917-1975) was an influential American jazz and pop music critic. He contributed for many years to the San Francisco Chronicle, was a founding editor of Rolling Stone magazine, and cofounder of the Monterey Jazz Festival.
http://wn.com/Ralph_J_Gleason -
Randy Weston
Randy Weston (born April 6, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York), is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.
http://wn.com/Randy_Weston -
Ray Bradbury
Raymond Douglas "Ray" Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles (1950) and The Illustrated Man (1951), Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th and 21st century American writers of speculative fiction. Many of Bradbury's works have been adapted into television shows or films.
http://wn.com/Ray_Bradbury -
Ray Nance
Ray Willis Nance (December 10, 1913 Chicago - January 28, 1976 in New York City ) was a jazz trumpeter, violinist and singer.
http://wn.com/Ray_Nance -
Rex Stewart
Rex Stewart (22 February 1907–7 September 1967) was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra.
http://wn.com/Rex_Stewart -
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974, having formerly been the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only President to resign the office as well as the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
http://wn.com/Richard_Nixon -
Richard Rodgers
http://wn.com/Richard_Rodgers -
Rick Henderson
http://wn.com/Rick_Henderson -
Rolf Ericson
http://wn.com/Rolf_Ericson -
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville) creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" (a cover version of the Italian song Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina by Alberto Rabagliati), "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House", though she would go on to success as a jazz vocalist.
http://wn.com/Rosemary_Clooney -
Ruby Keeler
http://wn.com/Ruby_Keeler -
Russell Procope
Russell Procope (11 August 1908–21 January 1981), an American clarinettist and alto saxophonist, was known best for his long tenure in the reed section of Duke Ellington's orchestra, where he was one of its two signature clarinet soloists.
http://wn.com/Russell_Procope -
Sam Woodyard
Sam Woodyard (January 7, 1925, Elizabeth, New Jersey - September 20, 1988, Paris, France) was an American jazz drummer.
http://wn.com/Sam_Woodyard -
Sathima Bea Benjamin
Sathima Bea Benjamin (born 17 October 1936, Johannesburg, South Africa), is a South African vocalist and composer born in Johannesburg, raised in Cape Town, and now based in New York City.
http://wn.com/Sathima_Bea_Benjamin -
Scott Joplin
http://wn.com/Scott_Joplin -
Shorty Baker
http://wn.com/Shorty_Baker -
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
http://wn.com/Sidney_Bechet -
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE ( or ; born February 20, 1927) is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat. He broke through as a star in acclaimed performances in American films and plays, which, by consciously defying racial stereotyping, gave a new dramatic credibility for black actors to mainstream film audiences in the Western world.
http://wn.com/Sidney_Poitier -
Skippy Williams
http://wn.com/Skippy_Williams -
Sonny Greer
Sonny Greer (13 December 1895–23 March 1982) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Duke Ellington.
http://wn.com/Sonny_Greer -
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt (b. February 2, 1924, Boston, Massachusetts – d. July 22, 1982, Washington, D.C.) was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the most well-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime. He was nicknamed the "Lone Wolf" by jazz critic Dan Morgenstern in tribute to his relentless touring and his devotion to jazz. He is considered the greatest disciple of Charlie Parker. Although his playing was at first heavily inspired by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Stitt eventually developed his own style, one which influenced John Coltrane. Stitt was especially effective with blues and with ballad pieces such as "Skylark".
http://wn.com/Sonny_Stitt -
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Judkins (born May 13, 1950), name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris, known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist. Blind from shortly after birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records' Tamla label at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for Motown to this day.
http://wn.com/Stevie_Wonder -
Taft Jordan
Taft Jordan (February 15, 1915, Florence, South Carolina - December 1, 1981, New Orleans) was an American jazz trumpeter, heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong.
http://wn.com/Taft_Jordan -
Tchaikovsky
http://wn.com/Tchaikovsky -
Ted Koehler
http://wn.com/Ted_Koehler -
Teddy Roosevelt
http://wn.com/Teddy_Roosevelt -
Teresa Brewer
http://wn.com/Teresa_Brewer -
Thelonious Monk
http://wn.com/Thelonious_Monk -
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3, 1926) is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.
http://wn.com/Tony_Bennett -
Tricky Sam Nanton
http://wn.com/Tricky_Sam_Nanton -
Turner Layton
http://wn.com/Turner_Layton -
Tyree Glenn
Evan Tyree Glenn (April 11, 1912, Corsicana, Texas - May 18, 1974, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American trombone player.
http://wn.com/Tyree_Glenn -
Victor Gaskin
Roderick Victor Gaskin, born The Bronx, New York, November 23, 1934 is a jazz bassist.
http://wn.com/Victor_Gaskin -
Wellman Braud
http://wn.com/Wellman_Braud -
Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall (October 24, 1920, St. Louis, Missouri - February 6, 2002, St. Louis) was an American jazz double-bassist.
http://wn.com/Wendell_Marshall -
Wilber Sweatman
http://wn.com/Wilber_Sweatman -
Wilbur De Paris
http://wn.com/Wilbur_De_Paris -
Will Marion Cook
http://wn.com/Will_Marion_Cook -
Will Vodery
Will Vodery (October 8, 1885 - November 18, 1951) was an African-American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and arranger, and one of the few black Americans of his time to make a name for himself as a composer on Broadway, working largely for Florenz Ziegfeld.
http://wn.com/Will_Vodery -
William Schuman
http://wn.com/William_Schuman -
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
http://wn.com/William_Shakespeare -
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American jazz and Western classical virtuoso trumpeter and composer. He is Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted the appreciation of Classical and Jazz music, often focusing on young audiences.
http://wn.com/Wynton_Marsalis -
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 - March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.
http://wn.com/Zoot_Sims
Ellington, Duke Filmography
- The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America (2011)
- Michel Petrucciani (2011)
- Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way (2010)
- Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (2009)
- Jazz Giants of the 20th Century (2007)
- Reminiscing in Tempo (2006)
- Duke Ellington Swinging at His Best (2005)
- Billie Holiday: The Ultimate Collection (2005)
- Harlem Renaissance (2004)
- Improvisation (2004)
- My Kinda People (2003)
- It's Black Entertainment (2002)
- Cinerama Adventure (2002)
- Rhapsody in Black (2002)
- Hollywood Rhythm Vol. 1: The Best of Jazz and Blues (2001)
- The Century: America's Time (1999)
- New York: A Documentary Film (1999)
- The Fifties (1997)
- Victor Borges Tivoli 150 år (1993)
- American Justice: Target - Mafia (1993)
- Apollo Theatre Hall of Fame (1993)
- The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show (1991)
- That's Black Entertainment (1990)
- Memories of Duke (1980)
- Black Shadows on the Silver Screen (1975)
- On the Road with Duke Ellington (1974)
- Duke Ellington... We Love You Madly (1973)
- Timex All Star Swing Festival (1972)
- Black Music in America: From Then Till Now (1971)
- ...And Beautiful II (1970)
- Change of Mind (1969)
- Newport Jazz Festival (1968)
- The Barbara McNair and Duke Ellington Special (1968)
- The Strolling '20s (1966)
- Assault on a Queen (1966)
- Freedom Spectacular (1964)
- Paris Blues (1961)
- Schlager-Raketen (1960)
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
- Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
- Holiday (1957)
- Jazz Ball (1956)
- Rock 'n' Roll Revue (1955)
- Salute to Duke Ellington (1950)
- Salute to Duke Ellington (1950)
- Symphony in Swing (1949)
- Date with Duke (1947)
- Upbeat in Music (1943)
- Reveille with Beverly (1943)
- Cabin in the Sky (1943)
- Jam Session (1942)
- Flamingo (1942)
- Birth of the Blues (1941)
- Verdensberømtheder i København (1939)
- The Hit Parade (1937)
- Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life (1935)
- Murder at the Vanities (1934)
- Belle of the Nineties (1934)
- A Bundle of Blues (1933)
- Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (1933)
- Check and Double Check (1930)
- Black and Tan (1929)
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- I Can't Get Started
- Cong-Go
- Body and Soul
- Blues for Jerry
- Fontainebleu Forest
- Summertime
- It's Bad to Be Forgotten
- A Hundred Dreams Ago
- So
- Searching (Pleading for Love)
- Springtime in Africa
- Lotus Blossom
- All the Things You Are (take 1)
- All the Things You Are (take 2)
- Piano Improvisation No. 1
- Piano Improvisation No. 2
- Piano Improvisation No. 3
- Piano Improvisation No. 4
- Dancers in Love
- Prelude to a Kiss
- In a Sentimental Mood
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BBC Music, Volume 18, Number 7: American Classics: Bernstein, Gershwin, Grofé & Ellington
Released 2010
Released 2010
- Chichester Psalms: I. Psalm 108 vs. 2, Psalm 100. Maestoso ma energico – Allegro molto
- Chichester Psalms: II. Psalm 23, Psalm 2 vs. 1–4. Andante con moto, ma tranquillo – Allegro feroce
- Chichester Psalms: III. Psalm 131, Psalm 133 vs. 1. Prelude. Sostenuto molto – Peacefully flowing – Lento possible
- Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
- Mississippi Suite: I. Father of Waters. Andante maestoso – Animato – Tempo primo
- Mississippi Suite: II. Huckleberry Finn. Allegro moderato – Più lento – Tempo primo
- Mississippi Suite: III. Old Creole Days. Andante sostenuto
- Mississippi Suite: IV. Mardi Gras. Allegro – Andantino (espressivo e sostenuto) – Assai maestoso e appassionato
- Harlem
- Who Knows
- Retrospection
- B Sharp Blues
- Passion Flower
- Dancers In Love
- Reflections in D
- Melancholia
- Prelude To A Kiss
- In A Sentimental Mood
- Things Ain't What They Used To Be
- All Too Soon
- Janet
- Kinda Dukish
- Montevideo
- December Blue
- All the Things You Are (Version 1)
- All the Things You Are (Version 2)
- Piano Improvisation No.1
- Piano Improvisation No.2
- Piano Improvisation No.3
- Piano Improvisation No.4
- New World A-Comin'
- Variations on Mood Indigo [*]
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Take the Coltrane
- Big Nick
- Stevie
- My Little Brown Book
- Angelica
- The Feeling of Jazz
- Satin Doll
- Stardust
- One O'Clock Jump
- Stormy Weather
- Take The "A" Train
- 4:30 Blues
- In Triplicate
- Chili Bowl
- Janet
- Happy Reunion
- Caravan
- Wig Wise
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Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936–1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okeh Small Group Sessions
Released 2006
Released 2006
- Tough Truckin'
- Tough Truckin' (alternate take)
- Indigo Echoes
- Indigo Echoes (alternate take)
- Rexatious (alternate take)
- Rexatious
- Lazy Man's Shuflle
- Lazy Man's Shuflle (alternate take)
- Clouds in My Heart (alternate take)
- Clouds in My Heart
- Frolic Sam (alternate take)
- Frolic Sam
- Caravan
- Caravan
- Stompy Jones
- Stompy Jones
- Mood Indigo / Solititude
- Sophisticated Lady / In a Sentimental Mood
- I Can't Believe That You Are in Love With Me (alternate take)
- I Can't Believe That You Are in Love With Me
- Downtown Uproar (alternate take)
- Downtown Uproar
- Digga Digga Do (alternate take)
- Digga Digga Do
- Bakiff
- Reflections in D
- Body and Soul
- The E and D Blues (E for Ella, D for Duke)
- Going Up
- Big Shoe
- Pie Eye's Blues
- Azalea
- Wig Wise
- Fleurette Africaine
- Take the Coltrane
- The Feeling of Jazz
- West Indian Pancake
- Cotton Tail
- The Blues
- The Hawk Talks
- Prelude to a Kiss
- Love You Madly
- Just Squeeze Me (but Don't Tease Me)
- Everything but You
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- Pitter Panther Patter
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- Sophisticated Lady
- See See Rider
- Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: First Movement
- Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Second Movement
- Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Third Movement
- Fragmented Suite for Piano and Bass: Fourth Movement
- East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Take It Easy
- Hot and Bothered
- The Mooche
- Rockn' in Rhythm
- Creole Rhapsody
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Creole Love Call
- Sophisticated Lady
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- Solitude
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Back Room Romp
- Clouds in My Heart
- Echoes of Harlem
- Caravan
- Blue Reverie
- Diminuendo in Blue
- Crescendo in Blue
- Don't Get Around Much Any More
- Live and Love Tonight
- Saint Louis Blues
- Happy Go Lucky Local
- On the Alamo
- Jam a Ditty
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Perdido
- Just You, Just Me
- I Let a Song Out of My Heart
- Tea for Two
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Everything Goes
- Cross Town
- Far Away Blues
- 9:20 Special
- How High the Moon
- Clarinet Lament (Barney's Concerto)
- Diminuendo in Blue
- A Portrait of Bert Williams
- Star Spangeld Banner
- Introduction
- Take The A Train
- Moon Mist
- Tea For Two
- Honeysuckle Rose
- Star Dust
- C Jam Blues
- West Indian Influence
- Lighter Attitude
- New World A-Coming
- Floor Shows
- Don't Get Around Much Any more
- Satin Doll
- Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
- I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
- Body and Soul
- Creole Love Call
- Prelude to a Kiss
- The Star-Crossed Lovers (A.K.A. Pretty Girl)
- Corner Pocket (A.K.A. Until I Met You)
- To You
- Take Love Easy
- All of Me
- Tenderly
- Love You Madley
- Love (My Everything)
- Mood Indigo
- Solitude
- In a Sentimental Mood
- There's a Lull in My Life
- It's Swell of You
- Old Plantation
- All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
- Alabamy Home
- If You Were in My Place
- Skrontch
- Carnival in Caroline
- Swingtime in Honolulu
- You Give Me the Gate (And I'm Swingin')
- Rose of the Rio Grande
- When My Sugar Walks Down the Street
- Watermelon Man
- La De Doody Do
- In a Mizz
- I'm Checkin' Out, Goo'm Bye
- A Lonely Co-Ed
- You Can Count on Me
- Killing Myself
- Your Love Has Faded
- Solitude
- Stormy Weather
- Mood Indigo
- So Far, So Good
- Me and You
- At a Dixie Roadside Diner
- Five O'Clock Whistle
- Duke's Place
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cottontail
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- The Beautiful American
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- The Mooche
- In a Mellow Tone
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Just Squeeze Me
- I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
- Azalea
- Take The "A" Train
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I Didn't Know About You (Sentimental Lady)
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- Someone
- I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
- Main Stem
- I'm Beginning To See The Light
- I Ain't Got Nothin' But The Blues
- My Little Brown Book
- Take the "A" Train
- Caravan
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- How High the Moon
- Tea for Two
- One O'Clock Jump
- Rockin' in Rhythm
- Passion Flower
- Everything Goes
- The Mooche
- Jam With Sam
- Tip Toe Topic
- It Don't Mean a Thing
- Delta Bound
- I've Got the World on a String
- Happy as the Day Is Long
- Rasin' The Rent
- Get Yourself a New Broom
- I'm Satisfied
- Ebony Rhapsody
- Troubled Waters
- My Old Flame
- Let's Have a Jubilee
- Cotton
- Truckin'
- Dinah Lou
- Isn't Love the Strangest Thing?
- Love Is Like a Cigarette
- Kissin' My Baby Goodnight
- Oh Babe Maybe Someday
- Shone Shine Boy
- It Was a Sad Night in Harlem
- I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter
- My Honey's Lovin' Arms
- Did Anyone Ever Tell You
- Where Are You?
- Duke's Place
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cottontail
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- The Beautiful American
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- The Mooche
- In a Mellow Tone
- It Don't Mean a Thing
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Just Squeeze Me
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Azalea
- East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- Creole Love Call
- The Blues I Love to Sing
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Washington Wobble
- Harlem River Quiver (Brown Berries)
- Blue Bubbles
- Take It Easy
- Black Beauty
- Jubilee Stomp
- Got Everything but You
- More Over
- Hot and Bothered
- The Mooche
- Diga Diga Doo
- Goin' to Town
- Tiger Rag, Parts 1 & 2
- Misty Mornin'
- Doin' the Voom Voom
- The Duke Steps Out
- Prologue to Black and Tan Fantasy
- The New Black and Tan Fantasy
- The Mooche
- Saturday Night Function
- Mississippi Moan
- Jungle Jamboree
- Haunted Nights
- Jungle Nights in Harlem
- Shout 'Em Aunt Tillie
- Jungle Blues
- Echoes of the Jungle
- Baby, When You Ain't There
- Dear Old Southland
- The New East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- Delta Mood
- Dooji Wooji
- Way Low
- A Gathering in a Clearing
- Liberian Suite: Dance No. 5
- Air Conditioned Jungle
- Duke's Place
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cotton Tail
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- The Beautiful American
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off at Harlem
- The Mooche
- In a Mellow Tone
- It Don't Mean a Thing
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Just Squeeze Me
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Azalea
- Jubilee Stomp
- In a Sentimental Mood
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Prelude to a Kiss
- Sophisticated Lady
- The Clothed Woman
- Day Dream
- Tonk
- Beggar's Holiday Suite
- Lush Life
- Fantasy on Caravan
- Comes Sunday
- A Single Petal of a Rose
- Solitude
- Malletoba Spank
- Red Garter
- Red Shoes
- Red Carpet
- Ready, Go!
- U.M.M.G.
- All Of Me
- Tymperturbably Blue
- Hello Little Girl
- The Jeep Is Jumpin'
- Mood Indigo
- Limbo Jazz
- Wanderlust
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Stevie
- My Little Brown Book
- C Jam Blues
- Lotus Blossom
- Medley
- Satin Doll
- Take the "A" Train
- You Know Something?
- Battle Royal
- Bird Jungle
- What's Paris Blues?
- Mood Indigo
- Autumnal Suite
- Nite
- Wild Man Moore
- Paris Stairs
- I Wasn't Shopping
- Guitar Amour
- A Return Reservation
- Paris Blues
- Take the "A" Train
- Such Sweet Thunder
- Half the Fun
- Madness in Great Ones
- The Star-Crossed Lovers
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- Wings and Things
- Kinda Dukish / Rockin' in Rhythm
- Chelsea Bridge
- Skin Deep
- Sophisticated Lady
- Jam With Sam
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- Mack the Knife
- The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues
- Lullaby of Birdland
- Trombonio-Bustoso-Issimo
- Goin' Out of My Head
- How Long Has This Been Going On?
- Diminuendo in Blue and Blow by Blow
- Jive Jam
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Just Squeeze Me
- Do Nothin' 'Till You Hear From Me
- In a Mellow Tone (In a Mellotone)
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- The Mooche
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Mood Indigo
- The Beautiful American
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Drop Me Off at Harlem
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Cotton Tail (Shuckin' And Stiffin')
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Duke's Place
- Azalea
- Take the "A" Train
- I Got It Bad
- Perdido
- Chelsea Bridge
- "C" Jam Blues
- What Am I Here For
- Main Stem
- Johnny Come Lately
- Sentimental Lady
- Rockin' the Rythm
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- Summertime
- Creole Love Call
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Something to Live For
- A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing
- Passion Flower
- I Like the Sunrise
- Azure
- Imagine My Frustration
- Duke's Place
- Brownskin Gal
- What Am I Here For
- Cotton Tail
- Intro
- Tulip or Turnip
- Ting-A-Ling
- Flamingo
- Rockin' in Rhythm
- Sophisticated Lady
- Take the "A" Train
- Flying Home
- All of Me
- Bakiff
- The Hawk Talks
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me
- V.I.P.'s Boogie
- Jam With Sam
- Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'
- Mood Indigo
- Star Spangled Banner
- Lady of the Lavender Mist
- Suddenly It Jumped
- Reminiscing in Tempo
- She Wouldn't Be Moved
- Paradise
- The Symphomaniac Pt. 1 (Symphonic or Bust)
- The Symphomaniac Pt. 2 (How You Sound)
- My Friend
- You Oughta
- Creole Love Call
- Don't Blame Me
- Lover Man
- The Tattooed Bride
- Dancers In Love
- Take the "A" Train
- Satin Doll
- Caravan
- Skillipoop
- Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall (Duke's Poetry)
- Blues Medley: Happy-Go-Lucky Local / John Sander's Blues (E & D Blues) / "C" Jam Blues
- Carolina Shout (The Lion)
- Tonk
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- Melancholia / Reflections in D
- Little African Flower
- Bird of Paradise
- The Single Petal of a Rose
- Take the 'A' Train
- Perdido
- Tea For Two
- Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me
- Caravan
- How High the Moon
- In a Jam
- Rockabye River
- On the Alamo
- Moon Mist
- Blue Lou
- Just You, Just Me
- Crosstown
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Medley 3)
- Satin Doll
- Medley: Creole Love Call, Black & Tan Fantasy, The Mooch
- Happy Go Lucky Local
- Mexican Suite
- It Don't Mean A Thing
- I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
- Things Ain't What They Used To Be
- Mood Indigo
- Mood Indigo 2
- In the Mood
- King Porter Stomp
- Moonlight Serenade
- Sunrise Serenade
- Little Brown Jug
- Farewell Blues
- Indian Summer
- Stardust
- Danny Boy
- Polka Dots and Moonbeams
- Blueberry Hill
- Pennsylvania 6-5000
- Take the "A" Train
- Take the "A" Train
- Soul Call
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Prowling Cat
- La Plus Belle Africaine
- Old Circus Train
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Stardust
- So Danço Samba
- How Long Has This Been Going On?
- St. Louis Blues
- Misty
- Mack the Knife
- Tap Routine
- Cottontail
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- What Can A Poor Fellow Do ?
- Black And Tan Fantasy
- Black And Tan Fantasy
- Chicago Stomp Down
- Harlem River Quiver (Brown Berries)
- Harlem River Quiver (Brown Berries)
- Harlem River Quiver (Brown Berries)
- East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- Blue Bubbles
- Blue Bubbles
- Red Hot Band
- Doin' The Frog
- Sweet Mama
- Stack O'Lee Blues
- Bugle Call Rag
- Take It Easy
- Jubilee Stomp
- Harlem Twist (East St. Louis Toodle-Oo)
- East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- East St. Louis Toodle-Oo
- Jubilee Stomp
- Jubilee Stomp
- Take It Easy
- Take It Easy
- Steppin' Into Swing Society
- Prologue To Black And Tan Fantasy
- The New Black And Tan Fantasy
- Riding On A Blue Note
- Lost In Meditation
- The Gal From Joe's
- Skrontch
- I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
- Braggin' In Brass
- Dinah's In A Jam
- You Gave Me The Gate (And I'm Swingin')
- Rose Of The Rio Grande
- Rose Of The Rio Grande [alternate take]
- Pyramid
- When My Sugar Walks Down The Street
- A Gypsy Without A Song
- Tonk
- Drawing Room Blues
- Frankie and Johnny
- Jumpin' Room Only
- Lots O' Fingers
- Dear Old Southland (take 1)
- Solitude (take 1)
- Solitude (take 2)
- Lotus Blossom
- Pither Panther Patter (take 1)
- Pither Panther Patter (take 2)
- Body and Soul (take 1)
- Body and Soul (take 2)
- Body and Soul (take 3)
- Sophisticated Lady (take 1)
- Sophisticated Lady (take 2)
- Mr. J.B. Blues (take 1)
- Mr. J.B. Blues (take 2)
- House of Lords
- The Second Portrait of the Lion
- Take the "A" Train
- Cottontail
- "C" Jam Blues
- Flamingo
- Bang-Up Blues
- Tonk
- Johnny Come Lately
- In a Blue Summer Garden
- Great Times
- Perdido
- Take the ''A'' Train
- Oscalypso
- Blues for Blanton
- Take The "A" Train
- Sophisticated Lady
- Perdido
- Prelude To A Kiss
- C Jam Blues
- Mood Indigo
- The Mooche
- Satin Doll
- Solitude
- What Am I Here For
- I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good
- Skin Deep
- Caravan
- Satin Doll
- Cotton Tail
- Echoes of Harlem
- New World A Comin'
- Night Train
- Prelude To A Kiss
- Sophisticated Lady
- In A Sentimental Mood
- Perdido
- Come Sunday
- Take The "A" Train
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Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies (Original Broadway Cast)
Released 1989
Released 1989
- Overture: Things Ain't What They Used to Be / Sophisticated Lady / Perdido
- Music Is a Woman
- Hit Me With a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
- Cotton Tail
- Take the "A" Train
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore / I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
- Caravan
- Something to Live For
- Rockin' in Rhythm
- In a Sentimental Mood
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Satin Doll / Just Squeeze Me
- Echoes of Harlem
- I'm Just a Lucky So-And-So
- Imagine My Frustration
- I'm Checking Out Goodbye / Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good) / Mood Indigo
- Sophisticated Lady
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (Finale)
- Imagine My Frustration
- Duke's Place
- Satin Doll
- Something to Live For
- Wives and Lovers
- So Danço Samba
- Let's Do It
- Lover Man
- Cottontail
- Rexatious
- Lazy Man's Shuffle
- Back Room Romp
- Love's In My Heart
- Clouds In My Heart
- Frolic Sam
- Caravan
- Stompy Jones
- Pyramid
- Swiingin' In The Dell
- Jitterbug's Lullaby
- The Rabbit's Jump
- I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
- Blue Reverie
- Echoes of Harlem
- Swing Pan Alley
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The Private Collection, Vol. 1: Studio Sessions: Chicago 1956
Released 1988
Released 1988
- March 19th Blues
- Feet Bone
- In a Sentimental Mood
- Discontented
- Jump for Joy
- Just Scratchin the Surface
- Prelude to a Kiss
- Miss Lucy
- Uncontrieved
- Satin Doll
- Do Not Disturb
- Love You Madly
- Short Sheet Cluster
- Moon Mist
- Long Time Blues
- Sonata for Solo Violin (1944): I. Tempo di ciaccona
- Sonata for Solo Violin (1944): II. Fuga - Risoluto, non troppo vivo
- Sonata for Solo Violin (1944): III. Melodia - Adagio
- Sonata for Solo Violin (1944): IV. Presto
- Mainly Black (from Black, Brown and Beige Suite, arr. Nigel Kenney): I. Introduction (feat. double bass: Alec Dankworth)
- Mainly Black (from Black, Brown and Beige Suite, arr. Nigel Kenney): II. Come Sunday (feat. double bass: Alec Dankworth)
- Mainly Black (from Black, Brown and Beige Suite, arr. Nigel Kenney): III. Work Song (feat. double bass: Alec Dankworth)
- Mainly Black (from Black, Brown and Beige Suite, arr. Nigel Kenney): IV. The Blues (Mauve) (feat. double bass: Alec Dankworth)
- Mainly Black (from Black, Brown and Beige Suite, arr. Nigel Kenney): V. Come Sunday (feat. double bass: Alec Dankworth)
- Jubilee Stomp
- Crole Love Call
- East St. Louis Toodle-OO
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Hot and Bothered
- Take It Easy
- Cotton Club Stomp
- Tiger Rag
- Old Man Blues
- Mood Indigo
- Saratoga Swing
- Wall Street Wail
- Echoes of the Jungle
- Doin the Voom Voom
- Rocking in Rhythm
- Ring Dem Belld
- Duke's Place
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cottontail
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- The Beautiful American
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off at Harlem
- The Mooche
- In a Mellow Tone
- It Don't Mean a Thing
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Just Squeeze Me
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- Azalea
- Satin Doll
- Star Dust
- One O'Clock Jump
- Stormy Weather
- Take The A Train
- 4:30 Blues
- In Triplicate
- Chile Bowl
- Janet
- Happy Reunion
- Caravan
- Wig Wise
- Mood Indigo (Stereo)
- Hot & Bothered (Stereo)
- Creole Love Call (Stereo)
- East St Louis Toodle-Oo (Stereo)
- Lots O' Fingers (Stereo)
- Black and Tan Fantasy (Stereo)
- Harlem Air Shaft
- I Don't Mind (All Too Soon)
- Rose of the Rio Grande
- Ridin' on a Blue Note
- Boy Meets Horn
- Rose Room
- Stompy Jones
- Jig Walk
- Little Posey
- Warm Valley
- Home (Sentimental Lady or I Didn't Know About You)
- Things Ain't What They Used to Be
- Just A-Sitting and A-Rockin'
- Solitude
- Brazilali Lou
- Five O'Clock Drag
- Perdido
- Slippery Horn
- I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
- I'm Beginning To See The Light
- The Mood To Be Wooed
- Oh Babe! Maybe Someday
- Downtown Uproar
- Demi-Tasse (Ev'ry Day)
- Azure
- Carnival In Caroline
- Dinah's In A Jam
- The Gal From Joe's
- Riding On A Blue Note
- Don't Be That Way
- Clarinet a La King
- The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
- Rose Room
- Bluebirds in the Moonlight
- Rachel's Dream
- Memories of You
- Let's Dance
- After You've Gone
- Sing, Sing, Sing
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- Sophisticated Lady
- Azure
- Caravan
- Dusk in the Desert
- Solitude
- Diminuendo in Blue
- Crescendo in Blue
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothing 'til You Hear From Me
- Creole Love Call
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- Crosstown
- Everything Goes
- Transblucency
- Rugged Romeo
- Tip Toe Topic
- Rockaby River
- The Unbooted Character
- The Suburbanite
- Moon Mist
- In A Jam
- Indiana
- I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
- Someone
- The Mooche
- Tea For Too
- One O'Clock Jump
- When the Saints Go Marching In
- On the Sunny Side of the Street
- Ain't Misbehavin'
- Tiger Rag
- Muskrat Ramble
- Jerry Roll Blues
- C'Est Si Bon
- Hello Dolly
- Mack the Knife
- A Kiss to Build a Dream On
- Tyrees Blues
- Pretty Little Missy
- Dear Old Southland
- Panama
- St. James Infirmary
- New Orleans Stomp
- Rockin' In Rhythm
- B.P.
- Take The "A" Train
- Tootie For Cootie
- 4:30 Blues
- El Gato
- Black Butterfly
- Things Ain't What They Used To Be
- Laying on Mellow
- Black, Brown & Beige - Suite
- Three Black Kings
- New World A-Comin'
- Harlem, for Jazz Band and Orchestra
- Take The 'A' Train
- Jack The Bear
- Ko-Ko
- Morning Glory
- Conga Brava
- Concerto For Cootie
- Bojangles
- Never No Lament
- Blue Goose
- Cotton Tail
- A Portrait Of Bert Williams
- Harlem Air Shaft
- All Too Soon
- Sepia Panorama
- My Greatest Mistake
- In A Mellotone
- Warm Valley
- Across The Track Blues
- Jumpin' Punkins
- John Hardy's Wife
- Take the "A" Train
- Ain't Misbehavin'
- Caravan
- Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me (concerto for Cootie)
- How High the Moon
- Tea for Two
- One O'Clock Jump
- Rockin' in Rhythm
- Passion Flower
- Everything Goes
- The Mooche
- Pretty Woman
- Jam With Sam
- Just Squeeze Me
- Tip Toe Topic
- Transblucency
- Double Ruff
- Ring Dem Bells
- Do Nothn' Till You Hear From Me
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cotton Tail
- Mood Indigo
- Duke's Place
- The Beautiful American
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- In a Mellow Tone
- The Mooche
- Limbo Jazz
- Mood Indigo
- Ray Charles' Place
- Wanderlust
- You Dirty Dog
- Self Portrait (of the Bean)
- The Jeep Is Jumpin'
- The Ricitic
- Solitude
- Battle Royal
- To You
- Take the "A" Train
- Until I Met You
- Wild Man
- Segue in C
- B D B
- Jumpin' at the Woodside
- It Don't Mean a Thing
- Solitude
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- I'm Beginning to See the Light
- Just Squeeze Me
- I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good
- I'm Just a Lucky So and So
- Cotton Tail
- Mood Indigo
- Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me
- Black and Tan Fantasy
- Drop Me Off in Harlem
- The Mooche
- In a Mellowtone
- Take the "A" Train
- Caravan
- I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)
- I'm Beginning To See The Light
- I Didn't Know About You
- I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues
- Everything but You
- (I've Got) Something to Live For
- Duke's Place
- Passion Flower
- Cottontail
- Mack the Knife
- It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got That Swing)
Born: 1899-04-29
Died: 1974-05-24
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Duke Ellington: Take The "A" Train
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:08
- Published: 15 Jun 2008
- Updated: 20 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington: Take The "A" Train
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Take_The_A_Train
Duke Ellington - C Jam Blues (1942)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:04
- Published: 07 Sep 2007
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
A 1942 recording of C Jam Blues beformed by Duke Ellington and a collection of other Jazz giants in a famous recording called "Jam Session". Other artist included Barney Bigard, Sonny Greer, Ray Nance, Joe 'Tricky Sam' Nanton, Rex Stewart, and Ben Webster. Use this link to open my Jazz Giants library playlist. www.youtube.com EUdGs6FKg=
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_C_Jam_Blues_1942
Duke Ellington, "Take the A Train"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:14
- Published: 09 Oct 2008
- Updated: 14 Jul 2012
This is a segment from the film Reveille with Beverly from 1943; the song was composed in 1939.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington,_Take_the_A_Train
Duke Ellington and his orchestra
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:19
- Published: 23 Sep 2005
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Elington et son orchestre it don't mean a thing
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_and_his_orchestra
Duke Ellington - It don't mean a thing (1943)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:44
- Published: 04 Jan 2008
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington and his orchestra playing this awesome tune in 1943. "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard. The music was written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at Chicago's Lincoln Tavern and was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for Brunswick Records (Br 6265) on February 2, 1932. Ivie Anderson sang the vocal and trombonist Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges played the instrumental solos. The title was based on the oft stated credo of Ellington's former trumpeter Bubber Miley, who was dying of tuberculosis. The song became famous, Ellington wrote, "as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time." Probably the first song to use the phrase "swing" in the title, it introduced the term into everyday language and presaged the Swing Era by three years. The Ellington band played the song continuously over the years and recorded it numerous times, most often with trumpeter Ray Nance as vocalist.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_It_don't_mean_a_thing_1943
Duke Ellington - Take the A Train (Ella Fitzgerald)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:11
- Published: 13 Mar 2007
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington Take the A Train (Ella Fitzgerald)
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Take_the_A_Train_Ella_Fitzgerald
Duke Ellington - Satin Doll
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:23
- Published: 30 Oct 2006
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra performing Satin Doll
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Satin_Doll
In a Sentimental Mood - Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:19
- Published: 04 Dec 2008
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Beautiful tune performed by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane in 1962, to a small pictire-video of mine. According to Ellington, the song was born in Durham, North Carolina. "We had played a big dance in a tobacco warehouse, and afterwards a friend of mine, an executive in the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, threw a party for us. I was playing piano when another one of our friends had some trouble with two chicks. To pacify them, I composed this there and then, with one chick standing on each side of the piano." Ellington composed the piece in 1935 and recorded it with his orchestra the same year. Lyrics were later written for the tune by Irving Mills and Manny Kurtz. The song uses a technique called contrapuntal or chromatic embellishment of static harmony. A "line cliché". This is the best-known version of the song, and is featured on "Duke Ellington and John Coltrane" and "Coltrane for Lovers".
http://wn.com/In_a_Sentimental_Mood_Duke_Ellington_John_Coltrane
Duke Ellington - Caravan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:30
- Published: 24 Jan 2010
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Album - The Popular Duke Ellington
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Caravan
Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington and Willie the Lion
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:58
- Published: 30 Aug 2006
- Updated: 18 Jul 2012
www.billytaylorjazz.net presents Billy Taylor playing along with the Master himself, and piano legend Willie the Lion Smith, from a 1969 tv celebration of Billy's birthday.
http://wn.com/Billy_Taylor,_Duke_Ellington_and_Willie_the_Lion
Duke Ellington - Black And Tan Fantasy 1929 Arthur Whetsol plays the jungle style trumpet solos!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Published: 10 Mar 2010
- Updated: 17 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 1929. Black And Tan Fantasy. Black Beauty Cotton Club Stomp These are excerpts of the early jazz art movie : Black And Tan Fantasy It shows the band in a setting very close to what the band did in the famous cotton club, backing dancers, singers and other acts. Black and Tan Fantasy is one of the first pieces Ellington recorded in what is now called jungle style. Originally in 1927 it was a kind of solo piece for trumpetter Bubber Miley. There also exist a lovely version (Even 2 takes) where Jabbo Smith substitutes for Miley, also 1927. When the time was ready in 1929 to make a movie recording, Miley had allready left the Ellington band. What makes this movie very interesting is that not Miley's follow up, Cootie Williams plays the solos, but instead it is Arthur Whetsol. Cootie was allready in the band, but self declared in an interview that at first he did laugh about the growl/plunger solos and only after a while started studying it seriously. Arthur Whetsol was more known for his lyrical solo work, a famous example is the haunting beautyfull tone on Creole Rhapsody. Another striking lyrical solo by Whetsol can be heard on Black Beauty, also in this movie. Also note that Whetsol plays the muted solo on Black and Tan with a harmon mute, usually it is done with a plunger by others. Also an interesting note is that the alto saxophone solo, that used to be played by Otto Hardwicke, is not played by his follow up Johnny Hodges, but instead <b>...</b>
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Black_And_Tan_Fantasy_1929_Arthur_Whetsol_plays_the_jungle_style_trumpet_solos!
Duke Ellington - Satin Doll
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:32
- Published: 23 Apr 2006
- Updated: 16 Jul 2012
The Duke Ellington Orchestra playing Satin Doll
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Satin_Doll
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - In a sentimental mood
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:19
- Published: 16 Jul 2009
- Updated: 20 Jul 2012
Classical tune 'In a sentimental mood' performed by outstanding Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (1962)
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_John_Coltrane_In_a_sentimental_mood
Duke Ellington interview 1973
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:10
- Published: 19 Apr 2008
- Updated: 06 Jul 2012
Duke was interviewed by the Finnish National Broadcasting Company while arriving to Helsinki for a concert in 1973.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_interview_1973
Duke Ellington 'Cotton Tail'
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:51
- Published: 03 Jun 2010
- Updated: 15 Jul 2012
The song from Duke Ellington's big band, 'Cotton Tail'.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_'Cotton_Tail'
Duke Ellington - Isfahan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:34
- Published: 27 Mar 2007
- Updated: 22 Jul 2012
@cookdandbombd - www.cookdandbombd.co.uk Encoded by lfbarfe! Watching the Duke Ellington Jazz 65 show (kindly encoded by Mr lfbarfe), I was VERY taken with the performance of Isfahan, from the "Far East Suite." I've chopped it out to share on YouTube, partly so I can keep it handy. Hope you enjoy it. Johnny Hodge's playing is extraordinarily beautiful, very warm and emotive. If you like this, then check out Demonoid for the full thing.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Isfahan
Duke Ellington on "What's My Line?"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:23
- Published: 04 Dec 2009
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington interview
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:33
- Published: 23 Sep 2006
- Updated: 21 Jul 2012
Ellington talking about how his inspiration works, from the documentary On The Road With Duke Ellington directed by Robert Drew.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_interview
Duke Ellington Orchestra "Take The A Train" 1943
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:00
- Published: 26 Feb 2009
- Updated: 21 Jul 2012
The Duke still swung when the band recorded this rare version of "Take The A Train" in 1943. The vocalist is Joya Sherrill who, according to some, actually wrote the lyrics to this famous Ellington composition, although others denie that and claim that Billy Strayhorn wrote the lyrics.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Orchestra_Take_The_A_Train_1943
Duke Ellington - Flamingo
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:49
- Published: 27 Oct 2006
- Updated: 19 Jul 2012
Duke Ellington Orchestra with Herb Jeffries on vocals
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Flamingo
Duke Ellington Take the A Train-in Color
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:45
- Published: 01 Sep 2008
- Updated: 21 Jul 2012
I see this clip around here, but usually in B&W (Saw one clip in color, but it didn't look as clear, IMO) Several more Ellington clips from this recording to come!
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_Take_the_A_Train-in_Color
Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - VIP's Boogie / Jam with Sam
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:27
- Published: 14 Dec 2008
- Updated: 21 Jul 2012
In the early 1960s five jazz films were commissioned by a corporate sponsor -- one of which featured the Duke Ellington Orchestra. "VIP's Boogie/Jam with Sam" are showcases for the band's phenomenal soloists and just about everyone in the band participates (except, notably, Hodges), including a stunning closer by Cat Anderson. The soloists here are (in order): VIP's Boogie - 1. Harry Carney (bars) 2. Jimmy Hamilton (cl) Jam with Sam - 1. Harold "Shorty" Baker (tp) 2. Paul Gonsalves (ts) 3. Lawrence Brown (tb) 4. Russel Procope (as) 5. Bill Berry (tp) 6. Ray Nance (tp w/ mute) 7. Eddie Mullens (tp) 8. Cat Anderson (tp) Personnel: Ray Nance, Shorty Baker, Cat Anderson, Bill Berry, Ed Mullens (t), Lawrence Brown, Leon Cox, Chuck Connors (tb), Russell Procope, Johnny Hodges (as), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Harry Carney (bars), Duke Ellington (p), Aaron Bell (b), Sam Woodyard (d). NYC, Jan 9, 1962.
http://wn.com/Duke_Ellington_His_Orchestra_VIP's_Boogie_Jam_with_Sam
LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND DUKE ELLINGTON
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:28
- Published: 30 Sep 2008
- Updated: 21 Jul 2012
FROM THE GREAT GREAT SUMMIT
http://wn.com/LOUIS_ARMSTRONG_AND_DUKE_ELLINGTON
Creative Commons / JGKlein
Creative Commons / Hans Bernhard
Public Domain / Jim.henderson
Creative Commons / Anthony22
Creative Commons / Rudi Riet
Creative Commons / Jim.henderson![The Taft Bridge, also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge, is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. It is situated south of the Duke Ellington Bridge.[1][3] On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[2]](http://web.archive.org./web/20120814184927im_/http://cdn5.wn.com/pd/11/8d/5d30c1c6c0a8bd71da614af98be0_small.jpg "The Taft Bridge, also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge, is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. It is situated south of the Duke Ellington Bridge.[1][3] On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[2]")
Creative Commons / Flickr
WN music poster- WN music poster
- WN music poster
WN music poster
![The Taft Bridge, also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge, is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. It is situated south of the Duke Ellington Bridge.[1][3] On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[2]](http://web.archive.org./web/20120814184927/http://cdn9.wn.com/pd/11/8d/5d30c1c6c0a8bd71da614af98be0_medium.jpg "The Taft Bridge, also known as the Connecticut Avenue Bridge or William Howard Taft Bridge, is a historic bridge located in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It carries Connecticut Avenue over Rock Creek and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the neighborhoods of Woodley Park and Kalorama. It is situated south of the Duke Ellington Bridge.[1][3] On July 3, 2003, the Taft Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[2]")
photo: AP / Victor R. Caivano
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photo: Creative Commons / CTBTO Photostream
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Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling "What does Pakistan stand for?" became a popular rallying cry decades before its birth on this day, August 14, back in 1947. But even the most ardent and...
The Examiner
Related topics Summer EscapesLos AngelesArts and EntertainmentConcertsJazz music Advertisement Los Angles - The Hollywood Bowl commemorates two American music legends with a night of jazz tributes by the Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, featuring Brian McKnight and Kenton’s 100th, with special guest...(size: 7.8Kb)
The Examiner
Related topics Duke Ellington School of the ArtsBoston Conservatory Advertisement JaVonn B. Bright, a recent graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts soon will be headed to major in vocal performance at Boston Conservatory. The 19 year old D. C. this evening will present a special concert...(size: 7.4Kb)
Celebrity Café
The Duke Ellington Legacy’s latest album, titled Single Petal of a Rose, features special guest Houston Person on tenor saxophone. Released on June 5, 2012 on Renma Recordings, the nine-person orchestra doesn’t attempt to mimic the original Ellington orchestra’s sound, instead it conveys inspiring...(size: 4.4Kb)
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
A local jazz legend plans to bring his vast catalog of music to Irwin next Thursday for a live performance during the summer's first Art & Jazz Night. Jazz trombonist Harold Betters, 84, plans to perform with his four-piece band in the parking lot of S&T; Bank, located at the corner of Third and Main...(size: 4.2Kb)
About Duke Ellington
24 May 2012
The Washington Post
Duke Ellington facts Duke Ellington’s actual first name was Edward. Loading... Comments Weigh In Corrections? Recommend...(size: 0.8Kb)
Music News
earMUSIC is proud to announce the July 23rd UK release of 'The Duke' ' Joe Jackson's tribute to American jazz icon Duke Ellington. The album will be released on CD, digital download and 12' vinyl. 'Ellington didn't consider his own arrangements to be sacred," says Jackson. "He...(size: 1.9Kb)
New York Daily News
BY GREG THOMAS Twenty years after his self-titled R&B debut, and 20 million in record sales later, Brian McKnight says that he’s “a jazz musician masquerading as a pop/R&B guy.” He’s proving his point Thursday and Friday at the Blue Note, singing and swinging with the Duke Ellington...(size: 2.8Kb)
Music News
Joe Jackson brings in Iggy Pop, Sharon Jones, Questlove and more for his tribute album to Duke Ellington. Former pop-rocker and now jazz and classical performer Joe Jackson is paying tribute to iconic jazz and swing band leader Duke...(size: 1.5Kb)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Rocker, crooner and music historian will play the Pabst Theater at 8 p.m. Sept. 29, in support of his upcoming Duke Ellington tribute album. Jackson - whose 1981 disc "Jumpin' Jive" celebrated the jump-blues fever of Louis Jordan - is releasing "The Duke," a collection of...(size: 16.9Kb)
IMDb
When Joe Jackson set out to pay tribute to legendary big band musician Duke Ellington with his latest album, The Duke, he knew that he...(size: 0.9Kb)
| Duke Ellington | |
|---|---|
 Frankfurt am Main, February 6, 1965 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Kennedy Ellington |
| Born | (1899-04-29)April 29, 1899 Washington D.C., United States |
| Died | May 24, 1974(1974-05-24) (aged 75) New York City, United States |
| Genres | Orchestral jazz, swing, big band |
| Occupations | Bandleader, pianist, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Years active | 1914–1974 |
| Website | www.dukeellington.com |
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974)[1] was an American composer, pianist, and big-band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions. In the opinion of Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe "In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington."[2] A major figure in the history of jazz, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage musicals, and world tours. Several of his instrumental works were adapted into songs that became standards. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and extraordinary charisma, he is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional genres of music. His reputation increased after his death and the Pulitzer Prize Board bestowed on him a special posthumous honor in 1999.[3]
Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category."[4] These included many of the musicians who were members of his orchestra, some of whom are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known jazz orchestral units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" for Cootie Williams, which later became "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me" with Bob Russell's lyrics, and "The Mooche" for Tricky Sam Nanton and Bubber Miley. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and "Perdido" which brought the "Spanish Tinge" to big-band jazz. Several members of the orchestra remained there for several decades. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his "writing and arranging companion."[5] Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in several films.
Ellington led his band from 1923 until his death in 1974. His son Mercer Ellington, who had already been handling all administrative aspects of his father's business for several decades, led the band until his own death in 1996. At that point, the original band dissolved. Paul Ellington, Mercer's youngest son and executor of the Duke Ellington estate,[6] kept the Duke Ellington Orchestra going from Mercer's death onwards.[7]
Contents |
Early life[link]
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. Daisy and J.E. were both pianists. Daisy primarily played parlor songs and J.E. prefered operatic airs. They lived with his maternal grandparents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place), NW in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C.[8] His father, James Edward Ellington, was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina on April 15, 1879 and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1886 with his parents.[9] Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1879, and was the daughter of a former American slave.[8][10] James Ellington made blueprints for the United States Navy.
At the age of seven Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him to live elegantly. Ellington’s childhood friends noticed that "his casual, offhand manner, his easy grace, and his dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman",[11] and began calling him Duke. Ellington credited his "chum" Edgar McEntree for the nickname. "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."[12]
Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. "President Roosevelt (Teddy) would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play," he recalled.[13] Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. He got his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games.
In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Cafe, he wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). Ellington created "Soda Fountain Rag" by ear, because he had not yet learned to read and write music. "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot," Ellington recalled. "Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire."[14] In his autobiography, Music is my Mistress (1973), Ellington said he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that playing the piano was not his talent. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at the age of fourteen. Hearing the poolroom pianists play ignited Ellington's love for the instrument and he began to take his piano studies seriously. Among the many piano players he listened to were Doc Perry, Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, Turner Layton, Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Blind Johnny, Cliff Jackson, Claude Hopkins, Phil Wurd, Caroline Thornton, Luckey Roberts, Eubie Blake, Joe Rochester, and Harvey Brooks.[15]
Ellington began listening to, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D.C., but in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer months.[14] Dunbar High School music teacher Henry Lee Grant gave him private lessons in harmony. With the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry, Ellington learned to read sheet music, project a professional style, and improve his technique. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with stride pianists James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. Later in New York he took advice from Will Marion Cook, Fats Waller, and Sidney Bechet. Ellington started to play gigs in cafés and clubs in and around Washington, D.C. and his attachment grew to be so strong that he turned down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1916. Three months before graduating he dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art.[16]
From 1917 through 1919, Ellington launched his musical career, painting commercial signs by day and playing piano by night. Through his day job, Duke's entrepreneurial side came out: when a customer would ask him to make a sign for a dance or party, he would ask them if they had musical entertainment; if not, Ellington would ask if he could play for them. He also had a messenger job with the U.S. Navy and State Departments. Ellington moved out of his parents' home and bought his own as he became a successful pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, and in late 1917 formed his first group, "The Duke’s Serenaders" ("Colored Syncopators", his telephone directory advertising proclaimed).[16] He was not only a member, but also the booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall, where he took home 75 cents.[17]
Ellington played throughout the Washington, D.C. area and into Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included Otto Hardwick, who switched from bass to saxophone; Arthur Whetsol on trumpet; Elmer Snowden on banjo; and Sonny Greer on drums. The band thrived, performing for both African-American and white audiences, a rarity during the racially divided times.[18]
Music career[link]
Early career[link]
When his drummer Sonny Greer was invited to join the Wilber Sweatman Orchestra in New York City, Ellington made the fateful decision to leave behind his successful career in Washington, D.C., and move to Harlem, becoming one of the figures of the Harlem Renaissance. New dance crazes like the Charleston emerged in Harlem, as well as African-American musical theater, including Eubie Blake's Shuffle Along. After the young musicians left the Sweatman Orchestra to strike out on their own, they found an emerging jazz scene that was highly competitive and hard to crack. They hustled pool by day and played whatever gigs they could find. The young band met Willie "The Lion" Smith who introduced them to the scene and gave them some money. They played at rent-house parties for income. After a few months the young musicians returned to Washington, D.C., feeling discouraged.
In June 1923 a gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey, led to a play date at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem. This was followed in September 1923 by a move to the Hollywood Club – 49th and Broadway – and a four-year engagement, which gave Ellington a solid artistic base. He was known to play the bugle at the end of each performance. The group was called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including James "Bubber" Miley. They renamed themselves "The Washingtonians". Snowden left the group in early 1924 and Ellington took over as bandleader. After a fire the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the "Kentucky Club"), an engagement which set the stage for the biggest opportunities in Ellington's life.
Ellington made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including Choo Choo.[19] In 1925 Ellington contributed four songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-African-American revue which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. "Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra" grew to a ten-piece organization; they developed their own sound by displaying the non-traditional expression of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealing trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. For a short time soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet played with the group, imparting his propulsive swing and superior musicianship to the young band members. In 1927 King Oliver turned down a regular booking for his group as the house band at Harlem's Cotton Club; the offer passed to Ellington. With a weekly radio broadcast and famous white clientele nightly pouring in to see them.
Ellington was joined in New York City by his wife, Edna Thompson, and son Mercer in the late twenties, but the couple soon permanently separated.[20] According to her obituary in Jet magazine, she was "[h]omesick for Washington" and returned (she died in 1967).[21]
Although trumpeter Bubber Miley was a member of the orchestra for only a short period, he had a major influence on Ellington's sound.[22] An early exponent of growl trumpet, his style changed the "sweet" dance band sound of the group to one that was hotter, which contemporaries termed "jungle" style. He also composed most of "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Creole Love Call". An alcoholic, Miley had to leave the band before they gained wider fame. He died in 1932 at the age of 29. He was an important influence on Cootie Williams, who replaced him.
In 1927 Ellington made a career-advancing agreement with agent-publisher Irving Mills, giving Mills a 45% interest in Ellington's future.[23] Mills had an eye for new talent and early on published compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, and Harold Arlen. During the 1930s Ellington's popularity continued to increase – largely as a result of the promotional skills of Mills – who got more than his fair share of co-composer credits. From the beginning of their relationship, Mills arranged recording sessions on nearly every label including Brunswick, Victor, Columbia, OKeh, Perfect, Pathe, the ARC/Plaza group of labels (Cameo, Romeo, Lincoln, Oriole, Domino, Jewel, Banner), Hit of the Week, and Columbia's cheaper labels (Harmony, Diva, Velvet Tone, Clarion) labels which gave Ellington popular recognition, as well giving Ellington's fans the opportunity of hearing multiple versions of the same song. Ellington ended his association with Mills in 1937, although he continued to record under Mills' banner through to 1940.
At the Cotton Club, Ellington's group performed all the music for the revues, which mixed comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, music, and illegal alcohol. The musical numbers were composed by Jimmy McHugh and the lyrics by Dorothy Fields (later Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler), with some Ellington originals mixed in. Weekly radio broadcasts from the club gave Ellington national exposure. In 1929 Ellington appeared in his first movie, a nineteen-minute all-African-American RKO short, Black and Tan, in which he played the hero "Duke". In the same year, the Cotton Club Orchestra appeared on stage for several months in Florenz Ziegfeld's Show Girl, along with vaudeville stars Jimmy Durante, Eddie Foy, Jr., Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Gus Kahn. That feverish period also included numerous recordings, under the pseudonyms "Whoopee Makers", "The Jungle Band", "Harlem Footwarmers", and the "Ten Black Berries". In 1930 Ellington and his Orchestra connected with a whole different audience in a concert with Maurice Chevalier and they also performed at the Roseland Ballroom, "America's foremost ballroom". Noted composer Percy Grainger was also an early admirer and supporter. He wrote "The three greatest composers who ever lived are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington. Unfortunately Bach is dead, Delius is very ill but we are happy to have with us today The Duke".[24]
In 1929, when Ellington conducted the orchestra for Show Girl, he met Will Vodery, Ziegfeld’s musical supervisor. In his 1946 biography, Duke Ellington, Barry Ulanov wrote:
From Vodery, as he (Ellington) says himself, he drew his chromatic convictions, his uses of the tones ordinarily extraneous to the diatonic scale, with the consequent alteration of the harmonic character of his music, its broadening, The deepening of his resources. It has become customary to ascribe the classical influences upon Duke – Delius, Debussy and Ravel – to direct contact with their music. Actually his serious appreciation of those and other modern composers, came after his meeting with Vodery.[25]
As the Depression worsened, the recording industry was in crisis, dropping over 90% of its artists by 1933.[26] Ellington and his orchestra survived the hard times by taking to the road in a series of tours. Radio exposure also helped maintain popularity. Ivie Anderson was hired as their featured vocalist. Sonny Greer had been providing occasional vocals and continued to do in a cross-talk feature with Anderson. Ellington, however, later had many different vocalists, including Herb Jeffries (until 1943) and Al Hibbler (who replaced Jeffries in 1943 and continued until 1951).
Ellington led the orchestra by conducting from the keyboard using piano cues and visual gestures; very rarely did he conduct using a baton. As a bandleader Ellington was not a strict disciplinarian; he maintained control of his orchestra with a crafty combination of charm, humor, flattery, and astute psychology. A complex, private person, he revealed his feelings to only his closest intimates and effectively used his public persona to deflect attention away from himself.
While the band's United States audience remained mainly African-American in this period, the Cotton Club had a near-exclusive white clientele and the Ellington orchestra had a huge following overseas, exemplified by the success of their trip to England in 1933 and their 1934 visit to the European mainland. The English visit saw Ellington win praise from members of the "serious" music community, including composer Constant Lambert, which gave a boost to Ellington's aspiration to compose longer works. For agent Mills it was a publicity triumph, as Ellington was now internationally known. On the band's tour through the segregated South in 1934, they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African-Americans by touring in private railcars. These provided easy accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment while avoiding the indignities of segregated facilities.
The death of Ellington's mother in 1935 led to a temporary hiatus in his career. Competition was also intensifying, as African-American and white swing bands began to receive popular attention, including those of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Carter, Earl Hines, Chick Webb, and Count Basie. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and "danceability" drove record sales and bookings. Jukeboxes proliferated nationwide, spreading the gospel of "swing". Ellington's band could certainly swing, but their strengths were mood and nuance, and richness of composition; hence his statement "jazz is music; swing is business".[27] Ellington countered with two developments. He made recordings of smaller groups (sextets, octets, and nonets) drawn from his then-15-man orchestra and he composed pieces intended to feature specific instrumentalist, as with "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Yearning for Love" for Lawrence Brown, "Trumpet in Spades" for Rex Stewart, "Echoes of Harlem" for Cootie Williams and "Clarinet Lament" for Barney Bigard.
In 1937 Ellington returned to the Cotton Club which had relocated to the mid-town theater district. In the summer of that year, his father died, and due to many expenses, Ellington's finances were tight. Things improved in 1938 and he met and moved in with Cotton Club employee Beatrice "Evie" Ellis. After splitting with agent Irving Mills, he signed on with the William Morris Agency. The 1930s ended with a very successful European tour just as World War II loomed.
Ellington delivered some huge hits during the 1930s, which greatly helped to build his overall reputation. Some of them include: "Mood Indigo" (1930), "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1932), "Sophisticated Lady" (1933), "Solitude" (1934), "In a Sentimental Mood" (1935), "Caravan" (1937), "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" (1938). "Take the "A" Train" which hit big in 1941, was written by Billy Strayhorn.
Strayhorn, originally hired as a lyricist, began his association with Ellington in 1939.[28] Nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, Strayhorn soon became a vital member of the Ellington Organization. Ellington showed great fondness for Strayhorn and never failed to speak glowingly of the man and their collaborative working relationship, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine".[29] Strayhorn, with his training in classical music, not only contributed his original lyrics and music, but also arranged and polished many of Ellington's works, becoming a second Ellington or "Duke's doppelganger". It was not uncommon for Strayhorn to fill in for Duke, whether in conducting or rehearsing the band, playing the piano, on stage, and in the recording studio.[30]
Duke in the 1940s[link]
The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington and a small hand-picked group of his composers and arrangers wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity.[31]
Some of the musicians created a sensation in their own right. The short-lived Jimmy Blanton transformed the use of double bass in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo rather than a rhythm instrument alone. Ben Webster, the Orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist, started a rivalry with Johnny Hodges as the Orchestra's foremost voice in the sax section. Ray Nance joined, replacing Cootie Williams (who had "defected", contemporary wags claimed, to Benny Goodman). Nance, however, added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal.
Three-minute masterpieces flowed from the minds of Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's son Mercer Ellington, Mary Lou Williams and members of the Orchestra. "Cotton Tail", "Main Stem", "Harlem Airshaft", "Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side)", "Jack the bear", and dozens of others date from this period.
Privately made recordings of Nance's first concert date, at Fargo, North Dakota, on November 7, 1940 by Jack Towers and Dick Burris, are probably the most effective display of the band during this period. These recordings, later released as Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live, are among the first of innumerable live performances which survive, made by enthusiasts or broadcasters, significantly expanding the Ellington discography.
Ellington's long-term aim became to extend the jazz form from the three-minute limit of the 78 rpm record side, of which he was an acknowledged master.[32] He had composed and recorded Creole Rhapsody as early as 1931 (issued as both sides of a 12" record for Victor and both sides of a 10" record for Brunswick), and his tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo," had filled four 10" record sides in 1935; however, it was not until the 1940s that this became a regular feature of Ellington's work.
In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with classical music than Ellington. The first of these, "Black, Brown, and Beige" (1943), was dedicated to telling the story of African-Americans, and the place of slavery and the church in their history. Ellington debuted Black, Brown and Beige in Carnegie Hall on January 23, 1943, beginning a series of concerts there suited to displaying Ellington's longer works. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, few had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington’s work.
Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well-received. Jump for Joy, a full-length musical based on themes of African-American identity, debuted on July 10, 1941 at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. Although it had the support of the Hollywood establishment, and received mostly positive reviews, its socio-political outlook provoked a negative reaction among some members of the public. It ran for 122 performances until September 29, 1941, with a brief revival in November of that year. Its subject matter did not make it appealing to Broadway, despite Ellington's plans to take it there.[33]
The settlement of the first recording ban of 1942–43 had a serious effect on all the big bands because of the increase in royalty payments to musicians which resulted from it. The financial viability of Ellington's Orchestra came under threat, though Ellington's income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized it. Ellington always spent lavishly and although he drew a respectable income from the Orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses.[34]
The music industry's focus shifted away from the big bands to the work of solo vocalists such as the young Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and mainstream groups like The Andrews Sisters as World War II drew to a close. The Kay Davis wordless vocal feature "Transblucency" (1946) was not going to have a similar reach. By the mid 1940s, jazz artists were changing their approach. The new form of jazz, Bebop was an early hit with club owners of smaller venues who could draw the jazz form's growing audiences in New York City at a fraction of the cost of hiring a big band. Newer, smaller bands and splinter forms of music increasingly put pressure on the larger clubs who now had to pay higher wages to maintain their big bands. Bebop was the preferred form for younger talent based in New York, such as Charlie Parker or Thelonious Monk who both rarely embraced the Big Band idiom. By 1950, another emerging musical trend, the African-American popular music style known as Rhythm and Blues driven by musicians like Fats Domino was drawing young audiences away.
Ellington continued on his own course through these tectonic shifts in the music business. He did not wholly resist trends while trying to turn out major works. He still performed major extended compositions such as Harlem (1950), whose score he presented to music-loving President Harry Truman. In 1951, Ellington suffered a major loss of personnel, with Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and most significantly Johnny Hodges, leaving to pursue other ventures. Lacking overseas opportunities and motion picture appearances, Ellington's Orchestra survived on "one-nighters" and whatever else came their way.
Ellington's hope that television would provide a significant new outlet for his type of jazz was not fulfilled. Tastes and trends had moved on without him. The introduction of the 33 1/3 rpm LP record and hi-fi phonograph, though, did give new life to many of his older compositions. However by 1955, after three years of recording for Capitol, Ellington no longer had a regular recording affiliation.
Career revival[link]
Ellington's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956 returned him to wider prominence and exposed him to new audiences. The feature "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", with saxophonist Paul Gonsalves's six-minute saxophone solo, had been in the band's book since 1937, but on this occasion nearly created a riot. The revived attention should not have surprised anyone – Hodges had returned to the fold the previous year, and Ellington's collaboration with Strayhorn had been renewed around the same time, under terms more amenable to the younger man. Such Sweet Thunder (1957), based on Shakespeare's plays and characters, and The Queen's Suite, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II, were products of the renewed impetus which the Newport appearance helped to create.
A new record contract with Columbia produced Ellington's best-selling LP Ellington at Newport and yielded six years of recording stability under producer Irving Townsend, who coaxed both commercial and artistic productions from Ellington.[35] In 1957, CBS (Columbia's parent corporation) aired a live television production of A Drum Is a Woman, an allegorical suite which received mixed reviews. Festival appearances at the new Monterey Jazz Festival and elsewhere provided venues for live exposure, and a European tour in 1958 was well received.
While his music had been featured on screen for years, and sometimes the whole orchestra in film shorts, Ellington (with Strayhorn) now began to work directly on music for movies, contributing scores for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961). Ellington and Strayhorn, always looking for new musical territory, produced suites for John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. The late 1950s also saw Ella Fitzgerald record her Duke Ellington Songbook with Ellington and his orchestra—a recognition that Ellington's songs had now become part of the cultural canon known as the 'Great American Songbook'.
Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker concludes that the work of Billy Strayhorn and Ellington in Anatomy of a Murder, the trial court drama film directed by Otto Preminger in 1959, is "indispensable, [although] . . . too sketchy to rank in the top echelon among Ellington-Strayhorn masterpiece suites like Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite, but its most inspired moments are their equal."[36] Film historians have recognized the soundtrack "as a landmark – the first significant Hollywood film music by African Americans comprising non-diegetic music, that is, music whose source is not visible or implied by action in the film, like an on-screen band." The score avoided the cultural stereotypes which previously characterized jazz scores and rejected a strict adherence to visuals in ways that presaged the New Wave cinema of the ’60s".[37]
In the early 1960s, Ellington embraced recording with artists who had been rivals of the past, or who had been young artists from a later generation. The Ellington and Count Basie orchestras recorded together. During a period when he was between recording contracts he made records with Louis Armstrong (Roulette), Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane (both for Impulse) and participated in a session with Charles Mingus and Max Roach which produced the Money Jungle (United Artists) album. He signed to Frank Sinatra's new Reprise label, but the association with the label was short-lived.
Musicians who had previously worked with Ellington returned to the Orchestra as members: Lawrence Brown in 1960 and Cootie Williams in 1962.
"The writing and playing of music is a matter of intent.... You can't just throw a paint brush against the wall and call whatever happens art. My music fits the tonal personality of the player. I think too strongly in terms of altering my music to fit the performer to be impressed by accidental music. You can't take doodling seriously."[14]
He formed new working relationships with artists from around the world, including the Swedish vocalist Alice Babs, and South African musicians Dollar Brand and Sathima Bea Benjamin (A Morning in Paris, 1963/1997). He was now performing all over the world; a significant part of each year was spent on overseas tours.
Last years[link]
Ellington was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1965, but was turned down.[38] His reaction at 67 years old: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."[39] In September of the same year, the first of his Sacred Concerts was given its premiere. It was an attempt to fuse Christian liturgy with jazz, and even though it received mixed reviews, Ellington was proud of the composition and performed it dozens of times. This concert was followed by two others of the same type in 1968 and 1973, known as the Second and Third Sacred Concerts. This caused controversy in what was already a tumultuous time in the United States. Many saw the Sacred Music suites as an attempt to reinforce commercial support for organized religion, though Ellington simply said it was, "the most important thing I've done."[40] The Steinway piano upon which the Sacred Concerts were composed is part of the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Like Haydn and Mozart, Ellington conducted his orchestra from the piano – he always played the keyboard parts when the Sacred Concerts were performed.[41]
Ellington continued to make vital and innovative recordings, including The Far East Suite (1966), the New Orleans Suite (1970), and The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse (1971), much of it inspired by his world tours. It was during this time that Ellington recorded his only album with Frank Sinatra, entitled Francis A. & Edward K. (1967).
Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, an Honorary PhD from the Berklee College of Music in 1971, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country.[3]
Work in films and the theater[link]
Ellington's film work began in 1929 with the short film Black and Tan.[42] Symphony in Black (1935) featured his extended piece 'A Rhapsody of Negro Life'. It introduced Billie Holiday, and won an Academy Award as the best musical short subject. He also appeared in the Amos 'n' Andy film Check and Double Check (1930). Ellington and his Orchestra continued to appear in films through the 1930s and 1940s, both in short films and in features such as Murder at the Vanities and Belle of the Nineties (1934), and Cabin in the Sky (1943). In the late 1950s, his work in films took the shape of scoring for soundtracks, notably Anatomy of a Murder (1959), with James Stewart, in which he appeared fronting a roadhouse combo, and Paris Blues (1961), which featured Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as jazz musicians.
He wrote an original score for director Michael Langham's production of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada which opened on July 29, 1963. Langham has used it for several subsequent productions, most recently in an adaptation by Stanley Silverman which expands the score with some of Ellington's best-known works.
Ellington composed the score for the musical Jump For Joy, which was performed in Los Angeles during 1941. Ellington's sole book musical, Beggar's Holiday, was staged on Broadway in 1946. Sophisticated Ladies, an award-winning 1981 musical revue, incorporated many tunes from his repertoire.
Personal life[link]
Ellington married his high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson, on July 2, 1918, when he was 19. Shortly after their marriage, on March 11, 1919 Edna gave birth to their only son, Mercer Kennedy Ellington. Mercer played trumpet, led his own band and worked as his father's business manager, eventually taking full control of the band after Duke's death. He was an important archivist of his father's musical life.
Ellington's sister Ruth (1915–2004) later ran Tempo Music, Ellington's music publishing company. Ruth's second husband was the bass-baritone McHenry Boatwright, whom she met when he sang at her brother's funeral.
Ellington's eldest grandson Edward Kennedy Ellington II also is a musician and maintains a small salaried band known as the Duke Ellington Legacy, which frequently comprises the core of the big band operated by The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts.
Ellington died of lung cancer and pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York City.[43] At his funeral, attended by over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion, "It's a very sad day. A genius has passed."[44] Mercer Ellington picked up the reins of the orchestra immediately after Duke's death.
Legacy[link]
Main article: Duke Ellington discography
Duke Ellington's work has come to be recognized as a cornerstone of American culture and heritage. He is widely regarded as the most important composer in jazz; he was also a galvanizing bandleader who inspired many of his musicians to produce their best work, whilst himself being a significant exponent of jazz piano. His works have been revisited by artists and musicians around the world both as a source of inspiration and a bedrock of their own performing careers. Ellington's compositions are now the staple of the repertoire of music conservatories, and even high-school band programs that have embraced his music continue to give it life and voice.
His son, Mercer Ellington kept his big band alive after his death. When Mercer died, Paul Ellington kept the Duke Ellington Orchestra going. It plays in concert halls around the world to this day.
Awards, honors and recognitions[link]
Memorials[link]
Numerous memorials have been dedicated to Duke Ellington, in cities from New York and Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles.
In Ellington's birthplace of Washington, D.C., there is a school dedicated to his honor and memory as well as one of the bridges over Rock Creek Park. The Duke Ellington School of the Arts educates talented students, who are considering careers in the arts, by providing intensive arts instruction and strong academic programs that prepare students for post-secondary education and professional careers. The Calvert Street Bridge was renamed the Duke Ellington Bridge; built in 1935, it connects Woodley Park to Adams Morgan.
On February 24, 2009, the United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington, making him the first African American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin.[45] Ellington appears on the reverse ("tails") side of the District of Columbia quarter.[45] The coin is part of the U.S. Mint's program honoring the District and the U.S. territories[46] and celebrates Ellington's birthplace in the District of Columbia.[45] Ellington is depicted on the quarter seated at a piano, sheet music in hand, along with the inscription "Justice for All", which is the District's motto.[46]
Ellington lived for years in a townhouse on the corner of Manhattan's Riverside Drive and West 106th Street. After his death, West 106th Street was officially renamed Duke Ellington Boulevard. A large memorial to Ellington, created by sculptor Robert Graham, was dedicated in 1997 in New York's Central Park, near Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, an intersection named Duke Ellington Circle.
Although he made two more stage appearances before his death, Ellington performed what is considered his final "full" concert in a ballroom at Northern Illinois University on March 20, 1974.[47] The hall was renamed the Duke Ellington Ballroom in 1980.
A statue of Ellington at a piano is featured at the entrance to UCLA's Schoenberg Hall. According to UCLA Magazine:
When UCLA students were entranced by Duke Ellington's provocative tunes at a Culver City club in 1937, they asked the budding musical great to play a free concert in Royce Hall. 'I've been waiting for someone to ask us!' Ellington exclaimed. On the day of the concert, Ellington accidentally mixed up the venues and drove to USC instead. He eventually arrived at the UCLA campus and, to apologize for his tardiness, played to the packed crowd for more than four hours. And so, "Sir Duke" and his group played the first-ever jazz performance in a concert venue.[48]
He is one of only five jazz musicians ever to have been featured on the cover of Time (the other four being Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Wynton Marsalis, and Dave Brubeck).[49]
The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival is a nationally renowned annual competition for prestigious high school bands. Started in 1996 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the festival is named after Ellington because of the large focus that the festival places on his works.
Tributes[link]
- Dave Brubeck – dedicated "The Duke" (1954) to Ellington and it became a standard covered by others,[50] both during Ellington's lifetime (such as by Miles Davis on Miles Ahead, 1957) and posthumously (such as George Shearing on I Hear a Rhapsody: Live at the Blue Note, 1992). The album The Real Ambassadors has a vocal version of this piece, You Swing Baby (The Duke), with lyrics by Iola Brubeck, Dave's wife. It is performed as a duet between Louis Armstrong and Carmen McRae. It is also dedicated to Duke Ellington.
- Miles Davis – one month after Ellington's death, created his half-hour dedicated dirge "He Loved Him Madly" (1974) collected on Get Up with It.
- Stevie Wonder – wrote the song "Sir Duke" as a tribute to Ellington in 1976.
There are hundreds of albums dedicated to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn by artists famous and obscure. The more notable artists include Sonny Stitt, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Claude Bolling, Oscar Peterson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Dick Hyman, Joe Pass, Milt Jackson, Earl Hines, André Previn, World Saxophone Quartet, Ben Webster, Zoot Sims, Kenny Burrell, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Martial Solal, Clark Terry and Randy Weston.
Homage from critics[link]
Gunther Schuller wrote, "Ellington composed incessantly to the very last days of his life. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. In jazz he was a giant among giants. And in twentieth century music, he may yet one day be recognized as one of the half-dozen greatest masters of our time."[51]
Martin Williams said: "Duke Ellington lived long enough to hear himself named among our best composers. And since his death in 1974, it has become not at all uncommon to see him named, along with Charles Ives, as the greatest composer we have produced, regardless of category."[52]
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Duke Ellington on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.[53]
Andre Previn said, "You know, Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make a dramatic gesture and every studio arranger can nod his head and say, ‘‘Oh, yes, that’s done like this.’’ But Duke merely lifts his finger, three horns make a sound, and I don’t know what it is!"[54]
Awards[link]
Grammy Awards[link]
Ellington earned 12 Grammy awards from 1959 to 2000, three of which were posthumous.
| Duke Ellington Grammy Award History[55] | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Historical Album | The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition RCA Victor Recordings (1927–1973) |
Jazz | Winner |
| 1979 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band | Duke Ellington At Fargo, 1940 Live | Jazz | Winner |
| 1976 | Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band | The Ellington Suites | Jazz | Winner |
| 1972 | Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band | Togo Brava Suite | Jazz | Winner |
| 1971 | Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band | New Orleans Suite | Jazz | Winner |
| 1968 | Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group |
...And His Mother Called Him Bill | Jazz | Winner |
| 1967 | Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group |
Far East Suite | Jazz | Winner |
| 1966 | Best Original Jazz Composition | "In The Beginning God" | Jazz | Winner |
| 1965 | Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group |
Ellington '66 | Jazz | Winner |
| 1959 | Best Performance By A Dance Band | Anatomy of a Murder | Pop | Winner |
| 1959 | Best Musical Composition First Recorded And Released In 1959 (More Than 5 Minutes Duration) |
Anatomy of a Murder | Composing | Winner |
| 1959 | Best Sound Track Album – Background Score From A Motion Picture Or Television |
Anatomy of a Murder | Composing | Winner |
Grammy Hall of Fame[link]
Recordings of Duke Ellington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
| Duke Ellington: Grammy Hall of Fame Award[56][57] | ||||
| Year Recorded | Title | Genre | Label | Year Inducted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 | "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" | Jazz (Single) | Brunswick | 2008 |
| 1934 | "Cocktails for Two" | Jazz (Single) | Victor | 2007 |
| 1957 | Ellington at Newport | Jazz (Album) | Columbia | 2004 |
| 1956 | "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 1999 |
| 1967 | Far East Suite | Jazz (Album) | RCA | 1999 |
| 1944 | Black, Brown and Beige | Jazz (Single) | RCA Victor | 1990 |
| 1928 | "Black and Tan Fantasy" | Jazz (Single) | Victor | 1981 |
| 1941 | "Take the "A" Train" | Jazz (Single) | Victor | 1976 |
| 1931 | "Mood Indigo" | Jazz (Single) | Brunswick | 1975 |
Honors and inductions[link]
| Year | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Commemorative U.S. quarter | D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters Program.[58][59] |
| 2008 | Gennett Records Walk of Fame | |
| 2004 | Nesuhi Ertegün Jazz Hall of Fame at Jazz at Lincoln Center |
|
| 1999 | Pulitzer Prize | Special Citation[3] |
| 1992 | Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame | |
| 1986 | 22¢ commemorative U.S. stamp | Issued April 29, 1986[60] |
| 1978 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | |
| 1973 | French Legion of Honor[61] | July 6, 1973 |
| 1973 | Honorary Degree in Music from Columbia University | May 16, 1973 |
| 1971 | Honorary Doctorate Degree from Berklee College of Music | |
| 1971 | Songwriters Hall of Fame | |
| 1969 | Presidential Medal of Freedom | |
| 1956 | Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame inductee | |
| 1968 | Grammy Trustees Award | Special Merit Award |
| 1966 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | |
| 1959 | NAACP Spingarn Medal |
Notes[link]
- ^ "Biography". dukeellington.com (Official site). 2008. http://www.dukeellington.com/ellingtonbio.html. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ Boston Globe, April 25, 1999
- ^ a b c 1999 Pulitzer Prize Winners Special Awards and Citations
- ^ Tucker 1995, p. 6 writes "He tried to avoid the word 'jazz' preferring 'Negro' or 'American' music. He claimed there were only two types of music, 'good' and 'bad' ... And he embraced a phrase coined by his colleague Billy Strayhorn – 'beyond category' – as a liberating principle."
- ^ Hajdu, David (1996), Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBN 978-0-86547-512-0, page 170.
- ^ DukeEllington.com "Paul Ellington." Retrieved on September 18, 2009.
- ^ Entertainment Booking Agency, "The Duke Ellington Orchestra." Retrieved on September 18, 2009.
- ^ a b Lawrence 2001, p. 1
- ^ Lawrence 2001, p. 2.
- ^ Hasse 1995, p. 21.
- ^ Terkel 2002
- ^ Ellington 1976, p. 20.
- ^ Ellington 1976, p. 10.
- ^ a b c "Ellington, Duke". Current Biography. H.W. Wilson Company, 1970.
- ^ Smith, Willie the Lion (1964). Music on My Mind: The Memoirs of an American Pianist, Foreword by Duke Ellington. New York City: Doubleday & Company Inc. pp. ix.
- ^ a b Simmonds, Yussuf (September 11, 2008). "Duke Ellington". Los Angeles Sentinel. http://www.lasentinel.net/Duke-Ellington.html. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 45.
- ^ Cohen, Harvey G. (Autumn 2004). "The Marketing of Duke Ellington: Setting the Strategy for an African American Maestro". The Journal of African-American History (Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Inc.) 89 (4): 291–315. DOI:10.2307/4134056. JSTOR 4134056.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 79.
- ^ Susan Robinson, "Duke Ellington", Gibbs magazine, n.d.
- ^ "Obituary: Edna Thompson Ellington", Jet, 31:17, February 2, 1967, p46–47.
- ^ Schuller, Gunther (October 1992). "Jazz and Composition: The Many Sides of Duke Ellington, the Music's Greatest Composer". Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (American Academy of Arts & Sciences) 46 (1): 36–51. DOI:10.2307/3824163. JSTOR 3824163.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 90.
- ^ John Bird, Percy Grainger
- ^ Ulanov, Barry. Duke Ellington, Creative Age Press, 1946.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 166.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 203.
- ^ Stone, Sonjia (ed) (1983). "WILLIAM THOMAS STRAYHORN". Billy Strayhorn Songs. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. http://www.billystrayhorn.com/biography.htm. Retrieved July 14, 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Ellington 1976, p. 156.
- ^ "Duke Ellington: Symphony of the Body and Soul". Allaboutjazz.com. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article_print.php?id=31974. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
- ^ "Jazz Musicians – Duke Ellington". Theory Jazz. http://theoryjazz.com/artists/ellington.html. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ Crawford, Richard (1993). The American Musical Landscape. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07764-4.
- ^ Brent, David (February 6, 2008). "Jump For Joy: Duke Ellington’s Celebratory Musical | Night Lights Classic Jazz – WFIU Public Radio". Indianapublicmedia.org. http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/jump-for-joy-duke-ellingtons-celebratory-musical/. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 274.
- ^ Wein, George (2003). Myself Among Others: A Life in Music. Da Capo Press.
- ^ Stryker, Mark, Music Critic, Ellington's score still celebrated, January 20, 2009 Detroit Free Press
- ^ Mark Stryker "Ellington's score still celebrated", Detroit Free Press, January 20, 2009; Mervyn Cooke, History of Film Music, 2008, Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Gary Giddins, "How Come Jazz Isn't Dead", p. 39–55 in Weisbard 2004, pp. 41–42. Giddins remarks that in 1965 Ellington was denied the Pulitzer because the Pulitzer jury commended him for his body of work rather than for a particular composition, but his posthumous Pulitzer was granted precisely for that life-long body of work.
- ^ Tucker, Mark; Duke Ellington (1995). The Duke Ellington reader. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505410-5.
- ^ Ellington 1976, p. 269.
- ^ "Ellington's Steinway Grand". National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. http://www.piano300.si.edu/collectn.htm. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
- ^ Stratemann, Dr. Klaus. Duke Ellington: Day by Day and Film by Film, 1992. ISBN 87-88043-34-7
- ^ "Duke Ellington". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=318. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
- ^ Hasse 1993, p. 385.
- ^ a b c Staff reporter (February 24, 2009). "Jazz man is first African-American to solo on U.S. circulating coin". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/24/duke.ellington.coin/index.html. Retrieved October 3, 2009. "The United States Mint launched a new coin Tuesday featuring jazz legend Duke Ellington, making him the first African American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin. [...] The coin was issued to celebrate Ellington's birthplace, the District of Columbia." (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5kGOH7EZS)
- ^ a b United States Mint. Coins and Medals. District of Columbia.
- ^ McGowan, Mark (November 3, 2003). "NIU to rededicate Duke Ellington Ballroom during Nov. 6 NIU Jazz Ensemble concert". Northern Illinois University. http://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2003/nov/ellington.shtml. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
- ^ Maya Parmer, "Curtain Up: Two Days of the Duke", UCLA Magazine, April 1, 2009
- ^ Time.com
- ^ ""The Duke" by Dave Brubeck: song review, recordings, covers". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/song/t933027. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
- ^ Schuller, Gunther, The Swing Era, Oxford University Press, 1989, ISBN 0-19-504312-X. p. 157.
- ^ Martin Williams, liner notes, Duke Ellington's Symphony in Black, The Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble conducted by Gunther Schuller, The Smithsonian Collections recording, 1980.
- ^ Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Amherst, New York. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8.
- ^ Ralph J. Gleason, ‘‘Duke Excites, Mystifies Without Any Pretension,’’ Down Beat, November 5, l952, reprinted in Jazz Perspectives Vol. 2, No. 2, July 2008, pp. 215–49.
- ^ Grammy Awards Database
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Database
- ^ 2008 Grammy Hall of Fame List
- ^ 2009 D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters Program from the United States Mint website.
- ^ Sheridan, Mary Beth (June 20, 2008). "Ellington Comes Out Ahead in Coin Tossup". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061904090.html. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ Duke Ellington: 22 cents Commemorative stamp from the Center for Jazz Arts website
- ^ American History: Duke Ellington
References[link]
- Cohen, Harvey G. Duke Ellington's America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-226-11263-3
- Collier, James Lincoln. Duke Ellington. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-503770-7
- Dailey, Raleigh. "Ellington as a Composer for the Piano," in Jazz Research Proceedings Yearbook, No. 31 (Jan.2001), pp. 151–156.
- Dance, Stanley. The World Of Duke Ellington. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970. ISBN 0-306-80136-1
- Ellington, Duke. Music Is My Mistress. New York: Da Capo, 1976 ISBN 0-7043-3090-3
- Ellington, Mercer. Duke Ellington In Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. ISBN 0-395-27511-5.
- Hajdu, David, Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996. ISBN 978-0-86547-512-0.
- Hasse, John Edward. Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington. New York: Da Capo, 1995. ISBN 0-306-80614-2
- Lawrence, A. H. Duke Ellington and His World: A Biography. New York: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0-415-93012-X
- Schuller, Gunther. Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-19-504043-2. Especially pp. 318–357.
- Schuller, Gunther. The Swing Era: The Development Of Jazz, 1930–1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-507240-5. Esp. pp. 46–157.
- (French) Gilles Tordjman, François Billard, Duke Ellington, Le Seuil, Paris, 1994. ISBN 978-2-02-013700-3
- Terkel, Studs (2002), Giants of Jazz (2nd ed.), New York: The New Press, ISBN 978-1-56584-769-9.
- Tucker, Mark. Ellington, The Early Years, University of Illinois Press, 1991. ISBN 0-252-01425-1
- Tucker, Mark. The Duke Ellington Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993 ISBN 978-0-19-509391-9 .
- Ulanov, Barry. Duke Ellington, Creative Age Press, 1946.
- Weisbard, Eric, ed.. This Is Pop: In Search of the Elusive at Experience Music Project. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-674-01344-1.
- Massagli, Luciano and Volonté, Giovanni. The New Desor: Duke Ellington's Story on Records Parts One and Two, 1999, Milan, Italy. Privately published two-part discography with no ISBN number. The most comprehensive Ellington discography for sessions and record issues.
- Stratemann, Dr. Klaus. Duke Ellington: Day by Day and Film by Film. Copenhagen: JazzMedia, 1992. ISBN 87-88043-34-7 Covers all of Duke's travels and films from the 1929 short film Black and Tan onwards.
- Timner, W.E. Ellingtonia: The Recorded Music of Duke Ellington and His Sidemen. 5th ed. Lanham, Md. & Toronto: Scarecrow Press, 2007. ISBN 0-8108-5889-4 Has a unique discography of Ellington's sidemen.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Duke Ellington |
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Duke Ellington |
- Official website
- Official family website
- Symphony In Black (discussion and film)
- Duke Ellington at the Internet Movie Database
- Duke Ellington at the Internet Broadway Database
- Duke Ellington Biography, in Down Beat Magazine.
- Duke Ellington Collection: Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Archive Center.
- Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn: Jazz Composers An online exhibition from the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
- A Duke Ellington Panorama; including detailed discography.
- The Duke Ellington Society, TDES, Inc
- Duke Ellington: 20th International Conference. May 2008, London.
- Duke Ellington Orchestra at Wenig-LaMonica Associates
- "Duke Ellington". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=318. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
|
||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ellington, Duke |
| Alternative names | Ellington, Edward Kennedy; The Duke |
| Short description | Bandleader, composer, pianist |
| Date of birth | April 29, 1899 |
| Place of birth | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Date of death | May 24, 1974 |
| Place of death | New York City |
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Duke Ellington - Isfahan
neilbombd
Duke Ellington - Isfahan
@cookdandbombd - www.cookdandbombd.co.uk Encoded by lfbarfe! Watching the Duke Ellington Jazz 65 show (kindly encoded by Mr lfbarfe), I was VERY taken with the performance of Isfahan, from the "Far East Suite." I've chopped it out to share on YouTube, partly so I can keep it handy. Hope you enjoy it. Johnny Hodge's playing is extraordinarily beautiful, very warm and emotive. If you like this, then check out Demonoid for the full thing.
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Duke Ellington Orchestra "Take The A Train" 1943
harryoakley
Duke Ellington Orchestra "Take The A Train" 1943
The Duke still swung when the band recorded this rare version of "Take The A Train" in 1943. The vocalist is Joya Sherrill who, according to some, actually wrote the lyrics to this famous Ellington composition, although others denie that and claim that Billy Strayhorn wrote the lyrics.
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