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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH During his lifetime, Duke Ellington was widely regarded as an ambassador of American music and culture. This unique status was attributed to his combined talents of orchestration and band leading, coupled with his charismatic personality and magnanimous presence. Undeniably one of the most important composers in the history of jazz, with an estimated two thousand compositions, arrangements, and collaborations to his credit, Ellington's career greatly influenced the rise of the jazz band. Born Edward Kennedy Ellington on April 29, 1899, in Washington, DC, Duke began piano lessons at age six. He wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag," at age fourteen, while working as a soda jerk. He began playing professionally at seventeen. His parents expected him to accept a fine arts scholarship at Pratt to study painting, but he chose instead to devote himself to jazz. In 1919 he and a few friends formed a small band, Duke's Serenaders, which expanded and moved to New York City in 1923 as The Washingtonians. A year later, when Ellington took charge of the quintet, his career as a bandleader was firmly established. As jazz bands grew in size, Ellington had the opportunity to move from the spontaneous improvisation of a simple theme to more creative orchestration with unique combinations of tone quality. With more musicians to coordinate, Ellington paid careful attention to structure and balance in his jazz arrangements, while still allowing for solo improvisations. Unlike his contemporaries, Ellington drew instruments from different sections of the band and voiced them together as a unit, generating fresh musical sounds. He also employed wordless female vocalists as another tone color. As an inspired coach and kind-hearted leader, Ellington willingly showcased his musicians and enabled them, in turn, to make a strong impact on jazz styles for their particular instruments. This is borne out by Hodges' approach to alto saxophone ballad interpretation, Blanton's method of horn like solo lines played pizzicato on bass, and Ben Webster's tenor saxophone approach. Ellington's piano style influenced Thelonious Monk, a leading modern jazz composer-pianist, while Ellington's arranging concepts were assimilated by Gil Evans, Thad Jones, George Russell, Clare Fischer, Charles Mingus, Sun Ra, and other significant modern composers. Although Ellington's forte was jazz and his big-band pieces were best known, he also wrote for the Broadway stage, ballets, operas, films and church services. The latter works were scored for symphony orchestra, choruses, and dancers. In his 1973 autobiography, Music Is My Mistress, Ellington said, "My men and my race are the inspiration of my work. I try to catch the character and mood and feeling of my people." Even though he wrote out of the African American experience, Ellington's music was received around the world as the proliferation of jazz groups and societies such as Japan's Far East Ellington Lovers (FEEL) Jazz Orchestra attest. Taken as a whole, Ellington's musical contribution was "beyond category" since he "converted the actual texture of American life into first-rate, universally appealing music," as literary scholar Albert Murray observed. Edward Kennedy Ellington died in New York City on May 24, 1974. Several of the biographical and critical works published since his death are listed in the bibliography at the end of this web page. Budding scholars who want to assess his works for themselves are encouraged to visit the Smithsonian Institution which houses the Duke Ellington Collection of manuscripts and memorabilia. References: ARTIFACTS, MEMORABILIA, MANUSCRIPTS
The Ellington Archives The Archives Center Finding Aids Rude Interlude BIOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEWS: The Man and His Family Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899 - 1974) It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing An Appreciation of Duke Ellington The World Citizen Photo Archive Mercer Ellington, Bandleader, Son of Duke A Daughter-in-law's Tribute The Edward Kennedy Ellington Pages THE MUSICIAN AND THE MUSIC
Ellington-Strayhorn Songbook Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra Duke Ellington and His Orchestra - (Photo) History of Jazz Duke Ellington - The Story The Essence of Duke Ellington Duke Ellington: Blues in Orbit The Duke Ellington Panorama LINKS TO OTHER PAGES Rude Interlude - a Duke Ellington Home Page Links to Other Duke Ellington Pages Duke Ellington Pages People in Jazz DISCOGRAPHIES, FILMOGRAPHIES
The Best of the Sacred Concerts The Edward Kennedy Ellington Pages Red Hot Bands, 1895-1929 Duke Ellington and His Cotton Club Orchestra Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra Duke Ellington/Joe Turner and His Memphis Men Duke Ellington and His Orchestra Duke Ellington - Blue Feeling The Ellington-Strayhorn Songbook FRIENDS, FANS AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS The Duke Ellington Society [TDES] (NY) The Duke Ellington Society (UK) The Western High School - Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Alumni Association BOOKS AND ARTICLES: Biographical and critical works
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