Duke Ellington / Musician

(1899 - 1974)

*Biography:*	DUKE ELLINGTON (1899-1974) PIANIST, BANDLEADER, COMPOSER Born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1899, "Duke" earned his nickname at an early age to suit his aristocratic demeanor. He was brought up in a cultured middle class household. His father made blue print for the U.S. Navy and worked as a butler for extra income in the White House. His mother, who hailed from a respected Washington family, set a dignified tone for the family to follow. As Ellington got older he became interested in drawing and painting. He won a prize from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for a poster he created, and was eventually offered a scholarship to the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn to study commercial art. But a latent interest in music kept him from pursuing a career in art. His motivation to make it in the music world were far from pure: he apparently felt that he could earn more money as a bandleader than as an artist, and he noticed that pretty girls tended to flock around piano players. In 1914, Ellington wrote his first jazz song, "Soda Fountain Rag," while working in a soda shop. He later dropped out of school to pursue his musical career, playing in jazz bands by night and supplementing his income by painting signs during the day. Influenced by the style of Doc Perry, Ellington continued to work on his piano playing and, after the end of World War I, formed his own band. The turnout rate in Ellington's band was not high, but due to the band's longevity many musicians and singers played with Ellington over the years, among them; saxophonist "Toby" Otto Hardwick, Harry Carney Williams; banjo players Elmer Snowden and Sterling Conaway; drummer "Sonny" William Greer; clarinet and sax player Barney Bigard; bass player Wellman Brand; trombonist Joe Nanton; vocalist Adelaide Hall; and pianist-composer Billy Strayhan. Ellington and his band began playing at local clubs and parties in Washington, D.C. but during the early 1920s moved to New York City, where they secured steady work at the midtown Kentucky Club and a three year engagement at the popular Cotton Club. His notable compositions during this period include "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Love Creole," both of which became jazz standards. During the 1920s and 1930s, Ellington branched out into writing musical revues, such as Chocolate Kiddies, a success in Germany; playing in Broadway musicals, such as Florenz Ziegfield's 1929 Show Girls; and appearing with his band in motion pictures, including the 1930 Amos and Andy feature Check and Double Check. His 1931 long piece titled Creole Rhapsody, offered confirmation of (his) emergence as a major composer. Throughout the 1930s, Ellington also played the hot, primitive sounds of so-called "jungle music" and began experimenting with the infusion of Latin American element into jazz. In 1943 Ellington helped set up an annual jazz concert series at New York City's Carnegie Hall that lasted until 1955. Ellington was deeply involved with it each year and used the event to premier new, long works of jazz that he composed. Ellington continued to compose throughout the 1960s, writing scores for various motion pictures and garnering an Academy Award nomination for the scores of the 1961 film Paris Blues, which featured Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as love struck musicians in Paris. During the mid-1960s Ellington and his band, ever innovated, and started to perform jazz-style sacred-music concerts in large cathedrals throughout the world. Duke Ellington was active as a performer and composer until his death from lung cancer on May 24, 1974, in New York City. His compositions such as "Mood Indigo" and "In a Sentimental Mood," remain jazz standards for more than half a century after their introduction. Ellington won the Spingarn Medal from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1959. In Contemporary Black Biography, Vol.5, Duke Ellington P. 91-95. Published by Gale Research Inc. in 1994.

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