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Duke Ellington was a major
force in jazz from the 1920s through the 1960s and his work continues to
be influential today. He is considered by many to be the greatest
American composer. He had many hits including Take the A Train (words
and music by Billy Strayhorn),
His works were always tailored
to the talents of the musicians in his band, including Johnny Hodges,
Bubber Miley, Joe 'Tricky Sam' Nanton, Barney Bigard, Ben Webster, Harry
Carney, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke, and Wellman Braud. Many musicians
stayed with him for decades. Ellington started playing
around Washington D.C. in his teens, then formed a band 'The
Washingtonians', which he moved to New York City in 1923. Ellington
& The Washingtonians played at various New York Clubs and toured New
England as a dance band until they got their first big break in 1927.
When the then much better known Joe 'King' Oliver held out for more
money at the prestigious Cotton Club, the job as house band was offered
to Ellington. This was the best known of the Harlem clubs, and 'Duke
Ellington and his Jungle Band' became well known nationally thanks to
the regular radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club. In this setting Ellington had a
chance to write music in a variety of styles for dance theatre acts as
well as extended specialties for the band. These appearances featured
many experiments in tonality, with trumpet screams and wah-wah, and
growling saxophones. When Ellington left the Cotton Club in 1931 he was
one of the best-known African-American celebrities, recording regularly
for several record companies and featured in motion pictures. Ellington
continued to tour with his band around the United States and Europe,
plus a tour of much of the rest of the world in the 1960s. He was a musical experimenter
all his life, recording with John Coltrane and Charles Mingus as well as
with his own highly skilled orchestra. The band reached a creative peak
in the 1940s, when he wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices and
tremendous creativity. Some of these musicians, such as Jimmy Blanton,
transformed jazz during the short time they played with him. But even as player’s left and
the popularity of swing diminished, Ellington continued to find new
outlets, new forms and new sidemen. He frequently composed in longer
forms modelled on classical music, such as his Black, Brown and Beige
(1943), and Such Sweet Thunder (1957), based on Shakespeare. His
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue with a rocking saxophone interval by
Paul Gonsalves in 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival greatly increased
his fame and drawing power. He also wrote for films,
starting with Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929, but also Anatomy of a
Murder (1959) with James Stewart, in which he appeared as a bandleader,
and Paris Blues (1961), which featured Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as
jazz musicians. Ellington was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize in 1965, but was turned down. His reaction: 'Fate is
being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young.' Duke Ellington died on May 24,
1974 and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York. A
large memorial to Duke 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. ALBUMS & SINGLES 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 |
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RELATED T |
Satin
Doll, Rockin' in Rhythm, Mood Indigo, Caravan and Sophisticated Lady.
Throughout the 1920s and 30s, Ellington often shared composer credit
with his manager Irving Mills until they had a falling out in the late
1930s. Billy Strayhorn became Ellington's collaborator (not always
credited) from 1940 until Strayhorn's death in the mid 1960s.
