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CDs by Duke Ellington
Duke
Ellington and John Coltrane /
Ellington at Newport /
The Great Summit /
The Count Meets the Duke /
Blues in Orbit
The Very Best of Duke Ellington
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Three Suites /
Piano Reflections /
Far East Suite /
Masterpieces-1926-1949 /
Money Jungle
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Duke
Ellington
Bio-Chronology
1899-1974 1899-- Born April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C.,
delivered by a midwife named Eliza Jane Johnson at 2129 Ward
Place, N.W., at the home of his paternal grandparents. His
parents Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington,
ideal role models, taught him everything from proper table
manners to an understanding of the emotional power of music.
1906-1907-- Duke’s first piano lessons came around the age
of seven or eight and appeared to not have that much lasting
effect upon him. It seemed as if young Duke was more inclined to
baseball at a young age. Duke got his first job selling peanuts
at Washington Senator’s baseball games. This was the first
time Duke was placed as a "performer" for a crowd and
had to first get over his stage fright.
1913-- Began to sneak into Frank Holliday’s poolroom. His
experiences from the poolroom taught him to appreciate the value
in mixing with a wide range of people.
1913-1917--Attended Armstrong Manual Training School to study
commercial art instead of an academically-oriented school
Began to show a flare for the artistic. Nicknamed
"Duke" by a boyhood friend who admired his regal air,
the name stuck and became indelibly associated with the finest
creations in big band and vocal jazz.
Began to seek out and listen to ragtime pianists in
Washington and during the summers, where he and his mother
vacationed in Philadelphia or Atlantic City.
Heard a hot pianist named Harvey Brooks. Later sought Harvey
out in Philadelphia where Harvey showed Duke some pianistic
tricks and shortcuts. Duke later recounted that, "When I
got home I had a real yearning to play. I hadn’t been able to
get off the ground before, but after hearing him I said to
myself, ‘Man you’re going to have to do it.’" Thus
the music career of Duke Ellington was born.
Taken under the wings of Oliver "Doc" Perry and
Louis Brown who taught Duke how to read music and helped improve
his overall piano playing skills.
Found piano playing jobs at clubs and cafes throughout the
Washington area.
Dropped out of school and began his professional music career,
three months shy of graduation,
1917 (late)--Formed his first group: The Duke’s Serenaders.
1918-1919--Moved out of his parents’ home and into a home
he bought for himself. Became his own booking agent for his band.
Play throughout the Washington area and into Virginia for
private society balls and embassy parties.
1918--Married Edna Thompson.
1919 (March 11, 1919)--Mercer Kennedy Ellington was born.
1920--Earned enough money to support both wife and child.
1923--Left the security of Washington and moved to New York
under the encouragement of Fats Waller, during the formative
Cotton Club years, experimented with and developed the style
that would quickly bring him worldwide success and recognition.
Ellington would be among the first to focus on musical form
and composition in jazz using ternary forms and
"call-and-response" techniques in works like Concerto
for Cootie (known in its familiar vocal version as
Do Nothin' till You Hear from Me) and Cotton Tail
and classic symphonic devices in his orchestral suites. In this
respect, he would
Made his first recording. Ellington and his renamed band, The
Washingtonians, established themselves during the prohibition
era by playing at places like the Exclusive Club, Connie’s
Inn, the Hollywood Club (Club Kentucky), Ciro’s, the
Plantation Club, and most importantly the Cotton Club. Thanks to
the rise in radio receivers and the industry itself, Duke’s
band was broadcast across the nation live on "From the
Cotton Club."
1923-1927--Honed skills as a bandleader, songwriter, and
pianist. Learned how to function within New York's competitive
musical scene. Sough professional opportunities with publishers
and record companies.
1926-1927--Distinctive qualities appeared in such pieces as East
St. Louis Toodle-O, Immigration Blues, Black and Tan Fantasy, and
Creole Love Call. After a decade of study and
apprenticeship, Ellington emerged an original.
1927 (late)--landed a job for his orchestra at the Cotton
Club, one of New York's premier nightspots, located in Harlem at
142nd Street and Lenox Avenue. Operated by the gangster Owney
Madden, patronized by wealthy whites, and staffed by blacks,
1928 --Signed an agreement with Irving Mills to produce and
published Ellington’s music. Recording companies like
Brunswick, Columbia, and Victor came calling. Duke’s band
became the most sought after band in the United States and even
throughout the world.
Some of Ellington’s greatest works include, Rockin’ in
Rhythm, Satin Doll, New Orleans, A Drum is a Women, Take the
"A" Train, Happy-Go-Lucky Local, The Mooche, and
Crescendo in Blue.
1927-1931--Ellington and his orchestra remained at the Cotton
Club, with periodic interruptions, until early February 1931.
Expanded to twelve pieces, three reeds, three trumpets, two
trombones, and four in the rhythm section (piano, banjo or
guitar, bass, drums). Trumpeter Arthur Whetsol returned in
1928.
Others joined Ellington: reed-players Johnny Hodges and
Barney Bigard, trumpeter Freddie Jenkins, and in 1929, trumpeter
Cootie Williams and valve trombonist Juan Tizol.
Began to compose and record prolifically, turning out over
180 sides between December 1927 and February 1931 (compared with
the 31 his band had make in nearly four years at the Kentucky
Club).
Under contract to Victor, recorded for other labels under
various pseudonyms, such as The Jungle Band, The Whoopee Makers,
and Mills Ten Blackberries.
1930--Apeared in film Check and Double Check
1932--Boston critic R.D. Darrell wrote "Black
Beauty," the first serious essay on Ellington's music to be
published.
1933 (summer)--First visit to Europe. Six weeks in Britain
with large audiences, appearances in Holland and France.At one
private party the Duke of Kent asked Ellington to play Swampy
River, and the Prince of Wales briefly took Sonny Greer's
place at the drums. While in London, the orchestra recorded for
Decca and broadcast over the BBC.
1934-- Appeared with his orchestra in two Hollywood Films, Murder
at the Vanities and Belle of the Nineties.
Made with his orchestra a Paramount short on their own, Symphony
in Black (released in 1935), featuring the young Billie
Holiday.
1935--Mother Daisy dies. Loss of his mother was
especially traumatic which resulted in an extend period of
mourning during which few new works appeared. Recorded in Reminiscing
in Tempo
1936-- wrote Echoes of Harlem
1937--Father James Edward. dies. Recorded the two-part Diminuendo
and Crescendo in Blue
1937--wrote Azure
1937-1938--Returned to the Cotton Club, then located downtown
on 48th Street.
1938--Left Mildred Dixon, a dancer he had met at the Cotton
Club, for Baetrice " "Evie" Ellis. Had separated
from his wife in the late 20s.
1938--Wrote Braggin' in Brass
1939--Broke with manager Irving Mills and signed with
the William Morris Agency and moved to the publisher Jack
Robbins.
1939--Wrote The Sergeant Was Shy
1940--Wrote Jack the Bear, Harlem Air Shaft, Concerto for
Cootie, Ko-Ko, and Cotton Tail
1941--America Entered World War II
1941-- Recorded Jump for Joy; Chelsea Bridge,
Raincheck and a new theme for the orchestra, Take the
"A" Train
1941--Dispute between radio broadcasters and the American
Society of Composers and Publishers in 1941, which stimulated
the composition of new pieces since much of Ellington's previous
ASCAP-licensed repertory was banned from the airwaves
1942--Wrote Main Stem; A Slip of the Lip (May Sink a Ship)
1942-1944--Musicians' union strike led to a recording hiatus
of nearly a year and a half.
1943--Wrote the "tone parallel" Black, Brown and
Beige, premiered 23 January 1943 at Carnegie Hall
(Ellington's debut). First major black composer--who worked in
the jazz idiom and whose works usually were heard in nightclubs,
ballrooms, and theaters rather in temples of high art--to
present an evening of original music in New York's most
prestigious concert hall. a black composer. Thereafter over the
next five years, Ellington performed Carnegie at regular,
near-annual intervals.
New York celebrated "Ellington Week" from 17-23
January.
1943 (11 December)--Wrote for concert hall New World
A-Coming
Engagement at New York's Hurricane Club included broadcast
Ben Webster left orchestra
1944 (19 December)--Wrote for concert hall Perfume Suite
Engagement at New York's Hurricane Club included broadcast
Richard O. Boyer wrote extensive profile in the New Yorker
in which he dubbed Ellington "The Hot Bach."
Juan Tizol left orchestra
1945--Engaged at the Zanzibar Club, include broadcast
Rex Stewart left orchestra
1946--(23 November 1946)--Wrote for concert hall Deep
South Suite
Otto Hardwick left orchestra; Joe Nanton died 20 July while
on tour
1947 (27 December)-- Wrote for concert hall Liberian Suite
Left Victor and signed with Columbia
1948 (13 November)--Wrote for concert hall The Tattooed
Bride
1950-- Paul Gonsalves joins Ellington badn
Trip to Europe (for the first time since 1939) and in
1958 and 1959.
1951-- Wrote Harlem
Left Ellington orchestra-- Johnny Hodges, Lawrence Brown,
Sonny Greer and Tyree Glenn
Trumpeter Clark Terry and drummer Louie Bellson joined
Ellington band
1953--moved to Capitol in 1953 (the first session produced Satin
Doll)
1955--Wrote Night Creature for symphony and jazz
orchestra,
1956--Wrote A Drum is a Woman, for a television
production,
Appeared at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Went back to
Columbia.
1957--Wrote Such Sweet Thunder
1958--Made a trip to Europe
1959--Wrote Tool Suite and Idiom; and Anatomy
of a Murder for a Hollywood film directed by Otto Preminger.
Made a trip to Europe
1963--Traveled to the Middle East and India. Wrote My People
for Century of Negro Progress Exposition in Chicago, contained
such religious pieces as such religious numbers as Ain't But
the One, Will You Be There?, and David Danced
Before the Lord.
1964-- Traveled to Japan. Composed Far East Suite
1967--Billy Strayhorn died
1968--Traveed to Latin America and Mexico. Composed Latin
American Suite
1970--Composed Afro-Eurasian Suite. Collaborated with
Alvin Ailey on the ballet The River
Johnny Hodges died
1971--Traveld to the Soviet Union. Composed Goutelas Suite
1973--Wrote Music is my Mistress
1974 (24 May)--Died from cancer.
Sources: www.dukeellington.com/index.html
www.ilinks.net/~holmesr/ellington-bio.htm
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Duke Ellington was recognized in
his lifetime as one of the greatest jazz composers and performers.
A genius for instrumental combinations, improvisation, and jazz
arranging brought the world the unique "Ellington" sound that
found consummate expression in works like "Mood Indigo,"
"Sophisticated Lady," and the symphonic suites Black,
Brown, and Beige (which he subtitled "a Tone Parallel to
the History of the Negro in America") and Harlem
("a Tone Parallel to Harlem").
Duke Ellington and his band went on
to play everywhere from New York to New Delhi, Chicago to Cairo, and Los
Angeles to London. Ellington and his band played with such greats as Miles
Davis, Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella
Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Louis Armstrong.
They entertained everyone from Queen
Elizabeth II to President Nixon. Before passing away in 1974, Duke
Ellington wrote and recorded hundreds of musical compositions, all of
which continue to have a lasting effect upon people worldwide for a long
time to come. |
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updated 11 June
2008
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