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Duke Ellington
Composer, musician, bandleader
(April 29, 1899 - May 24, 1974)
Biography: Beginnings
• Born Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington
• Grew up in the District of Columbia
• Began piano lessons at age seven, but found baseball more
interesting
• Nickname comes from his casual, offhand manner, easy grace and
dapper dress which gave him the bearing of a young nobleman
• First composition in 1914, “Soda Fountain Rag,” (or “Poodle Dog
Rag”) written while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Cafe
for the summer, was created by ear because he had not yet
learned to read music. He would play it as a one-step, two-step,
waltz, tango and foxtrot and listeners never knew it was the same
piece.
Biography, cont.
• At age fourteen he began
sneaking into Frank Holiday’s
Poolroom, where the pool
room pianists ignited his love
for the instrument
• Began listening to, watching
and imitating ragtime pianists
in D.C. as well as Atlantic City
and Philadelphia
• Was hooked once he started to
play gigs in cafes and clubs
around the city
– Turned down an art scholarship
to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn
– Dropped out of the commercial
art program at Armstrong Manual
Training School just three
months shy of graduation
Biography: Beginnings, cont.
• Launched musical career painting commercial signs by day and
playing piano gigs he set up himself by night
• Also worked as a messenger for the U.S. Navy and State Department
• Moved into his own house that he bought for himself as he became a
successful ragtime, jazz and society pianist
• At first he played in other ensembles but formed his first group in
1917: “The Duke’s Serenaders,” for which he was a member as well
as the booking agent
• With his music career taking off, he felt financially secure and
married his high school sweetheart Edna Thompson in 1918 when
he was nineteen and within the year she gave birth to their only son
Drop Me Off at Harlem
• When his drummer was invited to join
an orchestra in NYC, Ellington decided
to leave his successful career in the DC
scene and aspire to the challenge of
Harlem
• The Harlem Renaissance was in
progress and the jazz scene was
competitive and difficult to crack
• Hustled by day and played whatever gig
could be scrounged up
• Returned to DC after a few months,
feeling discouraged, but returned in
1923 and was given a four-year
performance engagement which gave
him a solid artistic base
The Cotton Club
• Ellington plays his first gig at
the Cotton Club in 1927
• Asked to provide music
geared towards a white
American audience that
would transport them to the
Deep South and into the
depths of the African jungle
• He backed the cabaret turns,
and you can easy visualize the
floor show in songs from this
period such as “Jungle
Jamboree” and “Song of the
Cotton Field”
Duke Ellington
-- Popularized Big Band music
-- Makes you move and dance
-- Light hearted fun to listen to
-- Composed his own music scores
Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)
• Collaborated closely with Billy Strayhorn
(composer of the band’s theme “Take the A
Train”) on orchestrations and they formed
such a close relationship that their
contributions were sometimes difficult to tell
apart
• Ellington’s piano playing, once ignored,
began to register strongly, adding a fresh
tonal palette to the band (ex. “Ko-ko”)
• Conducted the orchestra from the keyboard
using piano cues and visual gestures – rarely
used a baton
• Certain sounds never left his palette, even
when instrumentalists moved on
• Genius lay in allowing his musicians’
individuality to shine:
– Violently abrasive solos
– Embellishments on tunes that would
send tears down the faces of audience
members
Style of the Duke
Duke’s Prolific Post-War Period
• After the war, as others
disbanded, he carried on
• Performance style never
changed, except that as the three
minute record gave way to the
long-player, he became even
more inclined to write extended
works
• 1950’s “Tone Parallel to
Harlem,” remains perhaps his
most sustained effort, but the
suites he poured out during his
incredibly prolific final period
are held in increasingly high
esteem
His Legacy
• Known in lifetime as one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not all of
American music
• For about 50 years, led an orchestra that toured the world and for which he
composed most of the material
• Supreme manipulator of orchestral sounds, making him one of the prime
choices among pundits for the title of greatest jazz musician of all time
• Won twelve Grammies spanning Best Soundtrack Album for “Anatomy of
a Murder” in 1959 to winning the award for Historical Jazz Album in 1999
• Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon
• Ten years before his death he was turned down for a Pulitzer Prize and it is
still unknown if it was racial discrimination or if the committee just couldn’t
take seriously a composer of something called “Doing the Chocolate
Shake.” Ellington shrugged it off and said that fate was kind in not wanting
him to become too famous too young. After his death, he received a special
award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Major Works
• Early Ellington, RCA
Bluebird. Includes many of
the of the early classics.
• Duke Ellington 1935-36,
Classics. Includes
“Reminiscing in Tempo.”
• The Indispensable, Vols 5-6,
RCA. Includes the best of the
best.
• Such Sweet Thunder,
Columbia. One of his bestloved suites.
• The Far East Suite, RCA
Bluebird. One of the most
successful later suites.
Duke Ellington