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Duke Ellington

By the time of his passing, he was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 performances worldwide. He was The Duke, Duke Ellington.

Edward Kennedy Ellington was born into the world on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C. Duke’s parents, Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington, served as ideal role models for young Duke, and taught him everything from proper table manners to an understanding of the emotional power of music. Duke’s first piano lessons came around the age of seven or eight and appeared not to have had 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. At the age of 14, Duke began sneaking into Frank Holliday’s poolroom. His experiences from the poolroom taught him to appreciate the value in mixing with a wide range of people.

As Duke’s piano lessons faded into the past, Duke began to show a flare for the artistic. Duke attended Armstrong Manual Training School to study commercial art instead of going to an academics-oriented school. Duke began to seek out and listen to ragtime pianists in Washington and, during the summers, in Philadelphia or Atlantic City, where he and his mother vacationed .

While vacationing in Asbury Park, Duke heard of a hot pianist named Harvey Brooks. At the end of his vacation, Duke 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.

Duke was 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. Duke found piano playing jobs at clubs and cafes throughout the Washington area. Three months shy of graduation, Duke dropped out of school and began his professional music career.

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Top Ten List

Duke Ellington's Top Ten Albums

Read "Duke Ellington's Top Ten Albums" reviewed by DIG 9000


Duke Ellington, the legendary jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader, released numerous albums throughout his illustrious career. It's challenging to narrow down his extensive discography to just ten, but here are some essential Duke Ellington albums that showcase his incredible talent and contribution to jazz: Ellington at Newport Columbia Records 1956 This live album is one of Ellington's most famous and significant recordings, featuring the iconic performance of “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" with an ...

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Book Excerpts

Jazz Lines: Free Verse In The Key Of Jazz

Read "Jazz Lines: Free Verse In The Key Of Jazz" reviewed by Gloria Krolak


Duke Ellington, composer, arranger, pianist and originator of big-band jazz, wrote “Sweet Jazz O'Mine" in 1930 when the genre was blooming. As a bandleader, Ellington was unsurpassed. He chose his musicians wisely and inspired some of their best work. “Sweet Jazz" is a lively foxtrot celebrating this unorthodox new style that had people dancing and feeling good. What became my poem is a collection of songs about the instruments that make up the whole, the drums, the trombone, the clarinet, ...

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Jazz in Long Form

From Chart to Reality: The Editorial Role of the Pianist in a Big Band

Read "From Chart to Reality: The Editorial Role of the Pianist in a Big Band" reviewed by Kurt Ellenberger


Note: This article was first published in the Jazz Education Journal in 2005, and was revised for All About Jazz. Preamble This article was written to address an issue that needed clarification, and indeed still needs clarification almost 20 years later, regarding the vagaries inherent in many of the published big band piano charts in use at hundreds of colleges and high schools. The professional jazz pianist will treat the written part with a great deal of freedom, ...

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Top Ten List

Jazz For The Serious Connoisseur

Read "Jazz For The Serious Connoisseur" reviewed by Phillip A. Haynes


In tackling this top ten list for serious students of jazz, the focus was on works that shocked and intrigued upon first and successive listens, striving to understand their meaning, materials, historical context, and influence on contemporary improvisation. “Blackbird" (1980) by Bobby McFerrin, The Voice (Elektra, 1984) When released, McFerrin's astounding virtuosity represented the first revolution in scat since Ella Fitzgerald. His entertaining and breathtaking “man chorale" approach utilizes rapidly juxtaposed tessituras, changeable vocal characters, integrated ...

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Radio & Podcasts

21 to 40

Read "21 to 40" reviewed by Patrick Burnette


Two fifty is as good an artificial milestone as any, so the boys decide it's time for a GOAT episode. First they wrestle a top-twenty artist list into shape, arguing that there's so much consensus out there little work remains to be done and still taking an hour doing it. Then it's on to the tricky bit—picking out 21 through 40. Totems will get tumbled, weird choices will get made, and hearts will get broken. Mostly Mike's. No pop matters ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Large Jazz Ensembles, Past And Present

Read "Large Jazz Ensembles, Past And Present" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This show on jazz orchestras and big bands begins and ends with Duke Ellington. In between, it includes Michael Gibbs, Count Basie, the Either/Orchestra, Chico O'Farrill, George Russell and several others. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Duke Ellington “Moon Over Cuba" from 1941 (Classics) 01:03 Chico O'Farrill “Havana Blues" from Carambola (Milestone) 4:12 Antonio Adolfo “Milestones" from Encontros ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Latin It All Hang Out

Read "Latin It All Hang Out" reviewed by Patrick Burnette


We start off season ten with neither a bang nor a whimper, but rather the sound of exotic auxiliary percussion and the screams of excitable brass. It's a show devoted to “Latin" music in its many guises, both smooth and bumptious, with looks at an early innovator in the jazz field, a couple of main stream jazzers hoping to strike it rich with the bossa nova craze, and a towering figure in big band jazz who always approached “outside" influences ...

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Video / DVD

Duke Ellington at Grinnell College, 1957

Duke Ellington at Grinnell College, 1957

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

On January 10, 1957, during a snowy Thursday evening, the Duke Ellington Orchestra played a concert at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. The performance was taped by the school with sophisticated gear, and the subsequent LP was released in limited supply. As a result, it has always been a highly sought-after album. Last week, Carl Woideck emailed with news that all the tracks were up on YouTube. Which is great to hear, since copies of vinyl copies very hard to ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Duke Ellington's birthday today!

By the time of his passing, he was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 ...

1

Event

The Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Performs Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite" at the Dunbar Hotel on December 9th

The Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Performs Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite" at the Dunbar Hotel on December 9th

Source: David W Payne

Following their hugely successful SOLD OUT concert at Catalina's in Hollywood last month, The Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra are performing Duke Ellington's “Nutcracker Suite" at the historic Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue. Michael Ellington, the Duke's great grand nephew, will be hosting the event. The Honorable Jan Perry, the Councilwoman responsible for the recent renovation of The Dunbar will also be in attendance. The Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra (LAJO) are going into the Recording Studio at the end of March. ...

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Event

Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Perform Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite At The Dunbar On December 9

Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra Perform Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite At The Dunbar On December 9

Source: David W Payne

The Honorable Jan Perry, who recently ran for Congress in November, has arranged for The Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra to perform Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite at the historic The Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue, Los Angeles on December 9th, During the 1930's and 1940's The Dunbar Hotel hosted many prominent Musicians traveling to perform in Los Angeles, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway and Paul Robeson. (All Ghosts are welcome). Jan ...

1

Video / DVD

Count, Duke, Stan, Harry, Gerald and Tubby in '65

Count, Duke, Stan, Harry, Gerald and Tubby in '65

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Thought to be over and done in 1965, big bands staged a comeback. Most of their acclaim came on tours in Europe and and on TV, but the truth is that bands led by top names were undergoing a renaissance. With their kids in college or out of the house and rock starting to dominate, many older listeners in the U.S. began paying attention again to artists who had shaped their youth. Abroad, a generation of young adults marveled at ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Duke Ellington's birthday today!

By the time of his passing, he was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 ...

1

Performance / Tour

The joy and legacy of the Duke Ellington songbook

The joy and legacy of the Duke Ellington songbook

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Duke Ellington's impact on jazz seems beyond measure, no matter how you count it. He wrote, co-wrote or took credit for writing more than 1,000 compositions over a 50-year span. According to one family bio, it was more than 3,000 songs. The numbers really don't matter as much as the imprint Duke left on the music. That's what the Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto sextet celebrated in their Charlotte County Jazz Society concert appearance on Monday, January 10. They dug into ...

Video / DVD

Duke Ellington: Berlin 1959

Duke Ellington: Berlin 1959

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

After my post last week on 16 jazz geniuses, I predictably received a flood of emails asking why Duke Ellington was missing from my list. As I explained, while Duke was exceptional, his piano didn't change the direction of jazz nor did a school emerge that emulated his approach. But the emails did give me pause. Perhaps Duke's influence was more subliminal, I thought. That's when it came to me. Ellington's genius was beauty and greater artistic self-worth. Prior to ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Jazz Musician of the Day: Duke Ellington

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Duke Ellington's birthday today!

By the time of his passing, he was considered amongst the world’s greatest composers and musicians. The French government honored him with their highest award, the Legion of Honor, while the government of the United States bestowed upon him the highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He played for the royalty and for the common people and by the end of his 50-year career, he had played over 20,000 ...

1

Video / DVD

Videos: Three Ellington Reeds

Videos: Three Ellington Reeds

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Duke Ellington was a tonal impressionist. Each musician in his band had two functions—to be able to play and to have a special sound. Taken as a whole, his orchestral pieces were like canvases, with different hues layered on top of each other. Here are three of Ellington's top saxophonists on solo showcases, providing an opportunity to hear their distinct sounds isolated: Here's Ben Webster on Chelsea Bridge... Here's Harry Carney on Sophisticated Lady... And here's Johnny Hodges on I ...

Marc Smason
trombone
Brian Nova
guitar
Max Perkoff
trombone
Chris Abelen
trombone
Frank Macchia
composer / conductor
Maria Schneider
composer / conductor
Lisa Rich
vocals
Matthieu Marthouret
organ, Hammond B3
Reggie Watkins
trombone
Seth Kibel
clarinet
Jeff Lofton
trumpet
Andrew Hadro
woodwinds
James Zollar
trumpet
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Ofer Shapira
saxophone
Anthony Brown
percussion
Scott Reeves
trombone
Chris Gale
saxophone, tenor
Paul Cosentino
clarinet
Benoit Viellefon
guitar and vocals
Nick Finzer
trombone
Ed Puddick
arranger
The GroovaLottos
band / ensemble / orchestra
Beppe Aliprandi
saxophone, alto
Milo Mannino
trumpet
Matthias Broede
harmonica
Brent Fischer
composer / conductor
Nick DePinna
trombone
Jeremy Shoham
saxophone
Lyn Stanley
vocals
Mimika Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Duo Laroo/Byrd
band / ensemble / orchestra
Charleston Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Freysteinn Gíslason
bass, acoustic
Devin Reilly
composer / conductor
Karla Bauer
vocals
Roberto Spadoni
composer / conductor
Jeff Lopez
bass, electric
Carl Cornwell
saxophone, tenor
Ed Harlow
saxophone
Rasmus Henriksen
composer / conductor
Tracy Yang
composer / conductor
Joseph de Dominicis
guitar, acoustic
George Lake BIG Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
K Quintet
band / ensemble / orchestra
Matteo Mosolo
bass, acoustic
Stephen M Kerr
bass, acoustic
Larry Wolf
vocals
Lounge Jazz
band / ensemble / orchestra
Kent Youth Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Andres Hayes
saxophone, tenor
Sergio Alessandro Buslje
composer / conductor
Zach Green
composer / conductor
Richard Davies
saxophone, tenor
Stardust Big Band
band / ensemble / orchestra
Flatirons Jazz Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Maurice Lynch
producer
Jazz'on Parma Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Graham Griffith
guitar, steel
OTAKA
piano
Al Lloyd & His Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra
Yooyoun Cho
guitar
Benoit Viellefon & His Orchestra
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Uppsala 1971

Storyville Records
2019

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Duke Ellington In...

Storyville Records
2018

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Rotterdam 1969

Storyville Records
2016

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At The Cotton Club

Storyville Records
2015

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Duke Ellington In...

Storyville Records
2014

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In Grand Company

JJ-Tracks
2013

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Videos

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