Back Duke Ellington Afrikaans Duke Ellington ALS Duke Ellington AN ديوك إلينغتون Arabic ديوك الينجتون ARZ Dyuk Ellinqton Azerbaijani دوک الینقتون AZB Дзюк Элінгтан Byelorussian Дюк Елингтън Bulgarian Duke Ellington BS
Duke Ellington | |
|---|---|
 Publicity portrait, c. 1940s | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edward Kennedy Ellington |
| Born | April 29, 1899 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | May 24, 1974 (aged 75) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Discography | Duke Ellington discography |
| Years active | 1914–1974 |
| Website | dukeellington |
| Signature | |
 | |
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.[1]
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz.
At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion.[2] With Strayhorn, he composed multiple extended compositions, or suites, as well as many short pieces. For a few years at the beginning of Strayhorn's involvement, Ellington's orchestra featured bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and reached a creative peak.[3] Some years later following a low-profile period, an appearance by Ellington and his orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 led to a major revival and regular world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in and scored several films, and composed a handful of stage musicals.
Although a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, in the opinion of Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld, "the most significant composer of the genre",[4] Ellington himself embraced the phrase "beyond category", considering it a liberating principle, and referring to his music as part of the more general category of American Music.[5] Ellington was known for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, as well as for his eloquence and charisma. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.[6]
- ^ "Biography". DukeEllington.com (Official site). 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ Hajdu, David (1996), Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, ISBN 978-0865475120, p. 170.
- ^ O'Dell, Cary. "Blanton-Webster Era Recordings – Duke Ellington Orchestra (1940–1942) Added to the National Registry: 2002" (PDF). Library of Congress. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
- ^ Schuller, Gunther; Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "Ellington, Duke (jazz) [Edward Kennedy]". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.J137500. ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
- ^ Tucker 1993, p. 6 writes: "He tried to avoid the word 'jazz' preferring 'Negro' or 'American' music. He claimed there were only two types of music, 'good' and 'bad' ... And he embraced a phrase coined by his colleague Billy Strayhorn—'beyond category'—as a liberating principle."
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
pulitzerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search