Duke Ellington
Born Edward Kennedy Ellington on April 29, 1899, Duke Ellington was one of the founding fathers of jazz music. He started playing piano at the age of seven, and by the time he was 15, he was composing. A pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer, Ellington and his band played together for 50 years. Some of Ellingtons most famous songs include “Don’t get Around Much Anymore”, “Sophisticated Lady” and “In a Sentimental Mood”. Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974, in
1) Dukes Band
Duke Ellington wrote music night and day. Although he was a pianist, it was said thsat his real instrument was his band and the gifted musicians with whom he worked. His drummer, Sonny Greer, was with the band from the beginning; second trombonist Juan Tizol was a Puerto Rican musician who added a little Latin influence to the band; trombonist Lawrence Brown joined the band in 1932 and stayed for 19 years; and Ray Nance played both the violin and trumpet. Mary Lou Williams, one of the great women in jazz, arranged music for Ellington.
Ellington may not have needed help writing music, but his partnership with Billy Strayhorn is considered one of the most important in American music. Strayhorn, who joined the band in 1939, composed and co-wrote some of the most famous pieces associated with Ellington, including the bands theme song. “Take the A Train”. Their partnership worked so smoothly that they were even able to write songs over the telephone. In his autobiography, Music is My Mistress, Ellington refers to Strayhorn as “…my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.”
The Duke Ellington Orchestra was on the road for 50 years and kept up an incredible schedule. The band often performed two shows a day and sometimes even added in a recording session. Ellintons music was familiar to people in the
2、Duke Ellington’s Varied Career
Referred to fondly as Maestro, Ellington loved writing music for his band. The tunes he composed gave each member a chance to shine. He also wrote an incredible amount of music for a number of different types of projects. He composed for musical reviews, movies, Broadway productions, and more.
In 1970, the American Ballet Theater commissioned Ellington to develop a ballet, which he called The River. The ballet was choreographed by the famous dancer Alvin Ailey and premiered on June 25, 1970, at the New York State Theater at
That same year, he was also commissioned to write a comic opera. Other works he wrote include a theater piece called Jump for Joy and music for films, including Cabin in the sky and Black and Tan Fantasy. He and his co-writer, Billy Strayhorn, also composed the entire score for the film Anatomy of a murder. What could top this?
Ellington said that by the time he was 20 he had read the Bible three times. It’s no surprise, then, that he wrote the Scared Concerts, a three-part series of concerts combining classical European and African American forms and styles. The First Scared Concert premiered at Grace Cathedral in
3、Duke Ellington’s Early Years
Duke Ellington was born in
At age 15, Ellington worked at a soda fountain and wrote his first song, “Soda Fountain Rag”. By his late teens, he was making enough money to help his parents move into a better house. One of Ellington’s first professional gigs was a party where he played so long that his hand bled. He earned 75 cents. “It was the most money I had ever seen,” he said. “I rushed all the way home to my mother with it. But I could not touch a piano key for weeks.” What was Ellington’s next move?
Ellington studied music during the ragtime era. Ragtime was a kind of popular American music consisting of off-beat dance rhythms that began with the honky-tonk pianists along the
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