Everything about Duke Ellington totally explained
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (
April 29 1899 –
May 24 1974) was an American
composer,
pianist, and
bandleader, recognized during his life as one of the
most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, including a special award citation from the
Pulitzer Prize Board.
Ellington called his style and sound "American Music" rather than
jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category", including many of the musicians who served with his orchestra, some of whom were themselves considered among the giants of jazz and remained with Ellington's orchestra for decades. While many were noteworthy in their own right, it was Ellington that melded them into one of the most well-known
orchestral units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" ("
Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me") for Cootie Williams and "The Mooche" for
Tricky Sam Nanton. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as
Juan Tizol's "
Caravan" and "
Perdido" which brought the "
Spanish Tinge" to
big-band jazz. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger
Billy Strayhorn, who he called his alter-ego.
One of the twentieth century's best-known African-American celebrities, Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in several
films. Ellington and his orchestra toured the
United States and
Europe regularly before and after
World War II. Ellington led his band from 1923 until his death in 1974. His son
Mercer Ellington took over the band until his death from cancer in 1996. Paul Ellington, Mercer's youngest son, took over the Orchestra from there and after his mother's passing took over the Estate of Duke and Mercer Ellington.
Biography
Early life
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington who lived in the home of his maternal grandparents at 2129 Ward Place, NW in
Washington, D.C. James Edward Ellington was born in
Lincolnton, North Carolina on
April 15,
1879 and moved to
Washington, D.C. in 1886 with his parents. Daisy Kennedy, was born in
Washington, D.C. on
January 4,
1879, and was the daughter of a former slave. J.E. made s for the
United States Navy; he was a butler for Dr. Middleton F. Cuthbert, a prominent white physician, and he also worked occasionally as a
White House caterer. Daisy and J.E. were both piano players, she playing parlor songs and he operatic airs, and at the age of seven Ellington began taking piano lessons from Mrs. Marietta Clinkscales who lived at 1212 Street NW. The Clinkscales address is often, but erroneously, given as Ellington's childhood home. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women who reinforced his manners and taught him to live elegantly. From his father, he absorbed self-confidence. Ellington’s childhood friends noticed that "his casual, offhand manner, his easy grace, and his dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman",
and began calling him Duke. Ellington credited his "chum" Edgar McEntree, "a sharp dresser himself," with the nickname. "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."
Though Ellington had been taking piano lessons from the age of eight, he failed to show much interest. At that time he was more concerned with baseball. "President Roosevelt (Teddy) would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play," he recalled. Ellington went to Armstrong High School in Washington, D.C.. He got his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senator’s baseball games where he conquered his stage fright. In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Café, he wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). Ellington created "Soda Fountain Rag" by ear, because he hadn't yet learned to read and write music. "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot," Ellington has recalled. "Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertory." In his autobiography,
Music is my Mistress, (1973) Ellington comments he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that playing the piano wasn't his talent. Over time, this would change. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at age fourteen. Hearing the poolroom pianists play ignited Ellington's love for the instrument and he began to take his piano studies seriously.
Ellington began listening to, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D.C., but also in
Philadelphia and
Atlantic City, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer months. Dunbar High School music teacher Henry Lee Grant gave him private lessons in harmony. With the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry, Ellington learned to read
sheet music, project a professional style, and improve his technique. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with
James P. Johnson and
Luckey Roberts, early jazz piano giants. Later in New York he took advice from
Will Marion Cook,
Fats Waller, and
Sidney Bechet. Ellington started to play gigs in cafés and clubs in and around Washington, D.C. and began to realize his deep love for music. His attachment grew to be so strong that he turned down an art scholarship to the
Pratt Institute in
Brooklyn in 1916 and dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School where he was studying commercial art just three months shy of graduation.
From 1917 through 1919, Ellington launched his musical career, painting commercial signs by day and playing piano by night. He also had a messenger job with the U.S. Navy and State Departments. Ellington moved out of his parents' home and into one that he'd bought for himself as he quickly became a successful ragtime, jazz, and society pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, then dove into the music business in late 1917 with the formation of his first group, The Duke’s Serenaders ("Colored Syncopators", his telephone directory advertising proclaimed) to which he wasn't only a member, but also the booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall where he took home 75 cents.
Ellington played throughout the Washington, D.C. area and into Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included:
Otto Hardwick, who switched from bass to saxophone; Arthur Whetsel on trumpet;
Elmer Snowden on banjo; and
Sonny Greer on drums. The boys thrived, performing for both African-American and white audiences, a rarity during the racially divided times. With his career taking off he felt secure enough to marry his high school sweetheart,
Edna Thompson, on
July 2 1918 when he was 19. Shortly after their marriage, on
March 11 1919 Edna gave birth to their only son,
Mercer Kennedy Ellington., who led his own band and took over his father's band after Duke's death. Mercer was an important archivist of his father's musical life. Mercer played trumpet and was the road manager of his father's band. Ellington's sister, Ruth, ran Tempo Music, the music publishing company he owned. His granddaughter, Mercedes is a dancer who has performed in network television productions. Grandson Paul Ellington is a pianist and composer who leads the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Early career
When their drummer
Sonny Greer was invited to join the
Wilber Sweatman Orchestra in New York City, Ellington made the fateful decision to leave behind his successful career in Washington, D.C. and aspire to the challenge of
Harlem. The '
Harlem Renaissance' was in progress. New dance crazes, like the
Charleston, were bred there as well as African-American musical theater, including
Eubie Blake's
Shuffle Along. After the young musicians left the Sweatman Orchestra to strike out on their own, they found an emerging jazz scene that was highly competitive and hard to crack. They hustled pool by day and played whatever gig they could find. The young band met
Willie "The Lion" Smith who showed them the scene and even gave them spare cash. They played at rent-house parties to get by. After a few months, the young musicians returned to Washington, D.C. feeling discouraged. But in June of 1923, a gig in
Atlantic City, New Jersey led to a play date at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem, followed in September 1923 by a move to the Hollywood Club, 49th and Broadway, and a four-year engagement which gave Ellington a solid artistic base. The group was called
Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra. and had seven members, including
James "Bubber" Miley, a trumpeter whose growling style changed the "sweet" dance band sound of the group to one that was edgier and hipper. They renamed themselves "The Washingtonians". When Snowden left the group in early 1924, Ellington took over as bandleader. After a fire, the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the "Kentucky Club"), an engagement which set the stage for the biggest opportunities in Ellington's life.
Ellington made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including
Choo Choo. In 1925, Ellington contributed four songs to
Chocolate Kiddies, an all-African-American revue which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. "Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra" grew to a ten-piece organization, developing their distinct sound, displaying the non-traditional expression of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealing trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. For a short time, the great tenor saxophonist
Sidney Bechet played with the group, imparting his propulsive swing and superior musicianship on the young band members. This helped attract to the Washingtonians the attention of some of the biggest names of jazz including
Paul Whiteman.
In 1927,
King Oliver turned down a regular booking for his group as the house band at
Harlem's Cotton Club; the offer passed to Ellington. With a weekly radio broadcast and famous clientèle nightly pouring in to see them, the period from 1932 to 1942 gave rise to what many call the "golden age" for the poor boy from Washington D.C.. During these ten years, Ellington added three new members to his orchestra and composed some of his most well-known short works, including "Concerto for Cootie", "Ko-Ko", "
Cotton Tail", "In a Sentimental Mood", and "Jump for Joy", his first full-length musical stage revue.
Trumpeter
Bubber Miley was present for only a short period but had a major influence on Ellington's sound. An early experimenter in jazz trumpet growling, Miley is credited with morphing the band's style from rigid dance instrumentation to a more "New Orleans", or "jungle" style. He also composed most of
Black and Tan Fantasy and
Creole Love Call. An alcoholic, Miley had to leave the band before they gained wider notoriety, and died in 1930 at the age of twenty-eight. He was an important influence on
Cootie Williams, another member of the orchestra (basically his replacement) in the early years and later.
In 1927 Ellington made a career-advancing agreement with agent-publisher
Irving Mills giving Mills a 45% interest in Ellington's future. The brash, shrewd Mills had an eye for new talent and early on published compositions by
Hoagy Carmichael,
Dorothy Fields, and
Harold Arlen. During the 1930s, Ellington's popularity continued to increase, largely as a result of the promotional skills of Mills, who got more than his fair share of co-composer credits. Mills arranged recording sessions on the Brunswick, Victor, and Columbia labels which gave Ellington popular recognition. Mills took the management burden off of Ellington's shoulders, allowing him to focus on his band's sound and his compositions. Ellington ended his association with Mills in 1937, although he continued to record under Mills' banner through 1940.
At the Cotton Club, they were no longer strictly a dance band. Ellington's group performed all the music for the revues which mixed comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, hot music, and illegal alcohol. The musical numbers were composed by
Jimmy McHugh and the lyrics by
Dorothy Fields (later
Harold Arlen and
Ted Koehler), with some Ellington originals mixed in. Weekly radio broadcasts from the club gave Ellington national exposure. In 1929, Ellington appeared in his first movie, a nineteen-minute all-African-American RKO short,
Black and Tan, in which he played the hero "Duke". In the same year, The Cotton Club Orchestra appeared on stage for several months in
Florenz Ziegfeld's
Show Girl, along with vaudeville stars
Jimmy Durante,
Eddie Foy, Jr.,
Al Jolson,
Ruby Keeler, and with music and lyrics by
George Gershwin and
Gus Kahn. That feverish period also included numerous recordings, under the pseudonyms "Whoopee Makers", "The Jungle Band", "Harlem Footwarmers", and the "Ten Black Berries". In 1930, Ellington and his Orchestra connected with a whole different audience in a concert with
Maurice Chevalier and they also performed at the
Roseland Ballroom, "America's foremost ballroom". Noted composer
Percy Grainger was also an early admirer and supporter.
As the Depression deepened, the recording industry took a dive, dropping over 90% by 1933. Ellington and his orchestra survived the hard times by taking to the road in a series of tours. Radio exposure also helped maintain his popularity.
Ivie Anderson was hired as their vocalist (Sonny Greer had been providing occasional vocals). Normally, Ellington led the orchestra by conducting from the keyboard using piano cues and visual gestures; very rarely did he conduct using a baton. As a bandleader, Ellington wasn't a strict disciplinarian but he maintained control of his orchestra for decades to come with a crafty combination of charm, humor, flattery, and astute psychology. A complex, private person he revealed his feelings to only his closest intimates and effectively used his public persona to deflect attention away from himself.
While their United States audience remained mainly African-American in this period, the Cotton Club had a near exclusive white clientèle and the band had a huge following overseas, demonstrated both in a trip to England in 1933 and a 1934 visit to the European mainland. The English visit saw Ellington win praise from members of the "serious" music community, including composer
Constant Lambert, which gave a boost to his aspirations to compose longer "serious" pieces. And for agent Mills, it was a publicity triumph, as Ellington was now "internationally famous". On their tour through the segregated South in 1934, they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African-American musicians by touring in private railcars, which provided easy accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment, while avoiding the indignities of segregated facilities.
The death of Ellington's mother in 1935 led to a temporary slump in his career. Competition was also intensifying, as African-American and white "Swing Bands" began to rocket to popular attention, including those of
Benny Goodman,
Tommy Dorsey,
Jimmy Dorsey,
Jimmie Lunceford,
Benny Carter,
Earl Hines,
Chick Webb, and
Count Basie. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and "dancability" drove record sales and bookings.
Jukeboxes proliferated nationwide spreading the gospel of "swing". Ellington band could certainly "swing" with the best of them, but Ellington's strength was mood and nuance, and richness of composition, hence his statement "jazz is music; swing is business". The challenge for Ellington at that time was to create a workable balance between his ceaseless artistic exploration and the popular requirements of that era. Ellington countered with two innovations. He made recordings for smaller groups (sextets, octets, and nonets) drawn from his then 15-man orchestra and he composed pieces that were concerto-like and focused on a specific instrumentalist, as with
Jeep's Blues for
Johnny Hodges and
Yearning for Love with
Lawrence Brown.
In 1937, Ellington returned to the Cotton Club which had relocated to the mid-town theater district. In the summer of that year, his father died, and due to many expenses Ellington's financial condition was tight. Things improved in 1938 and he met and moved in with Cotton Club employee Beatrice "Evie" Ellis. After splitting with agent Irving Mills, he signed on with
William Morris. The 1930's ended with a very successful European tour just as World War II loomed.
Ellington delivered some huge hits during the 1930s, which greatly helped to build his overall reputation
Mood Indigo in 1930,
It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) in 1932,
Sophisticated Lady in 1933,
In a Sentimental Mood in 1935,
Caravan in 1937,
I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart in 1938. Following shortly were
Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me in 1940 and
Take the "A" Train (written by
Billy Strayhorn) in 1941.
The most important event of Ellington’s “golden age” was the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. Hired as a lyricist, Strayhorn, nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, eventually became a vital member of the Ellington Organization and as Ellington described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back if my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine". Strayhorn, with his Classical music training, applied that knowledge to arrange and polish future Ellington works. Ellington came to rely on Strayhorn's harmonic judgment, discipline, and taste.
Duke in the 1940s
The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices and displayed tremendous creativity. In November of 1943 Ellington debuted
Black, Brown and Beige in
Carnegie Hall which told the struggle of African-Americans in America and began a series of concerts ideally suited to displaying Ellington's longer works. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, few had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington’s work. Some of the musicians created a sensation in their own right. The short-lived
Jimmy Blanton transformed the use of
double bass in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo rather than a rhythm instrument alone.
Ben Webster too, the Orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist, started a rivalry with Johnny Hodges as the Orchestra's foremost voice in the sax section.
Ray Nance joined in, replacing
Cootie Williams who had "defected", contemporary wags claimed, to
Benny Goodman. Nance, however, added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal. A privately made recording of Nance's first concert date, at
Fargo, North Dakota, in November 1940, is probably the most effective display of the band at the peak of its powers during this period. This recording is one of the first of innumerable live performances which survive, made by enthusiasts or broadcasters, significantly expanding the Ducal discography as a result.
Three-minute masterpieces flowed from the minds of Ellington,
Billy Strayhorn (from 1939), Ellington's son
Mercer Ellington, and members of the Orchestra. "
Cotton Tail", "Mainstem", "Harlem Airshaft", "Streets of New York" and dozens of others date from this period.
Ellington's long-term aim became to extend the jazz form from the three-minute limit of the
78 rpm record side, of which he was an acknowledged master. He had composed and recorded
Creole Rhapsody as early as 1931, and his tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo," had filled 4 record sides in 1938; however, it wasn't until the 1940s that this became a regular feature of Ellington's work. In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with
classical music than Ellington. The first of these, "
Black, Brown, and Beige" (1943), was dedicated to telling the story of
African-Americans, the place of slavery, and the church in their history. Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well-received;
Jump for Joy, an earlier musical, closed after only six performances in 1941.
The
first recording ban of 1942-3 had a serious effect on all the big bands because of the increase in royalty payments to musicians its resolution necessitated; the financial viability of Ellington's operation was under threat, though Ellington's income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized the Orchestra. Ellington always spent lavishly and although he drew a respectable income from the Orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses.
Meanwhile, the development of modern jazz, or
bebop, the music industry's shift to solo vocalists such as the young
Frank Sinatra as the Big Band age died out, and the diminishing popularity of ballroom and nightclub entertainment in the early television era all undermined Ellington's popularity and status as a trendsetter. Bebop rebelled against commercial jazz, dance jazz, and strict forms to become the music of jazz aficionados. Furthermore, by 1950 the emerging African-American popular music style known as
Rhythm and Blues drew away the young African-American audience and soon
Rock & Roll followed. In the face of these major social shifts, Ellington continued on his own course, but major defections soon roiled his Orchestra and he started to retire earlier works composed for now departed members. For a time though Ellington continued to turn out major works, such as the
Kay Davis vocal feature
Transblucency and major extended compositions such as
Harlem (1950), whose score he presented to music-loving President
Harry Truman.
In 1951, Ellington suffered a major loss of personnel, with Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and most significantly,
Johnny Hodges leaving to pursue other ventures. Lacking overseas opportunities and motion picture appearances, Ellington Orchestra survived on "one-nighters" and whatever else came their way, even six weeks in the summer of 1955 as the band for the Aquacade in
Flushing, New York. Even though he made many television appearances, Ellington's hope that television would provide a significant new venue for his type of jazz didn't pan out. The introduction of the 33 1/3 rpm LP record and hi-fi phonograph did give new life to older compositions. However by 1955, after ten years of recording for
Capitol, Ellington no longer had a regular recording affiliation.
Career revival
Ellington's appearance at the
Newport Jazz Festival on
July 7 1956 returned him to wider prominence and exposed him to new audiences. The feature "
Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", with saxophonist
Paul Gonsalves's six-minute saxophone solo, had been in the band's book since 1937, but on this occasion it nearly created a riot. The revived attention shouldn't have surprised anyone — Hodges had returned to the fold the previous year, and Ellington's collaboration with Strayhorn had been renewed around the same time, under terms amenable to the younger man.
Such Sweet Thunder (1957), based on
Shakespeare's plays and characters, and
The Queen's Suite the following year (dedicated to
Queen Elizabeth II), were products of the renewed impetus which the Newport appearance had helped to create.
A new record contract with Columbia produced Ellington's best-selling LP
Ellington at Newport and six years of recording stability under producer Irving Townsend, who coaxed both commercial and artistic productions from Ellington. In 1957, CBS (Columbia's parent corporation) aired a live television production of
A Drum Is a Woman, an allegorical suite which received mixed reviews. Other festivals at Monterey and elsewhere provided new venues for live exposure, and a European tour in 1958 was wildly received. After a 25-year gap, Ellington and Strayhorn again wrote film scores, this time for
Anatomy of a Murder and
Paris Blues. Despite some personnel turnover, in 1960 Ellington still possessed a seasoned corp with Carney, Hodges, Williams, Brown, Nance, Hamilton, Procope, Anderson, and Gonsalves. Ellington and Strayhorn, always looking for new musical territory, produced adaptations of
John Steinbeck's novel
Sweet Thursday,
Tchaikovsky's
Nutcracker Suite and
Edvard Grieg's
Peer Gynt. The late 1950s also saw
Ella Fitzgerald record her
Duke Ellington Songbook with Ellington and his orchestra, a recognition that Ellington's songs had now become part of the cultural canon known as the "
Great American Songbook".
In the early 1960s, Ellington was between recording contracts, which allowed him to record with a variety of artists mostly not previously associated with him. The Ellington and
Count Basie orchestras recorded together and he made a record with
Coleman Hawkins, plus some work for
Frank Sinatra's new Reprise label. In 1962, he participated in a session which produced the "
Money Jungle" (
United Artists) album with
Charles Mingus and
Max Roach, and also recorded with
John Coltrane for
Impulse. Musicians who had previously worked with Ellington returned to the Orchestra as members: Lawrence Brown in 1960 and
Cootie Williams two years later. Ellington was by now performing all over the world, a significant portion of each year was now spent making overseas tours, and he formed notable new working relationships, among which included the Swedish vocalist
Alice Babs, and South African musicians
Dollar Brand and
Sathima Bea Benjamin (
A Morning in Paris, 1963/2007). His earlier hits were now established standards, earning Ellington impressive royalties. "The writing and playing of music is a matter of intent.... You can't just throw a paint brush against the wall and call whatever happens art. My music fits the tonal personality of the player. I think too strongly in terms of altering my music to fit the performer to be impressed by accidental music. You can't take doodling seriously."
Last years
Ellington was nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize in 1965, but was turned down. His reaction at 67 years old: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young." He performed his first
Concert of Sacred Music, an attempt at fusing
Christian liturgy with jazz, in September of the same year, and even though it received so-so reviews, Ellington was enormously proud of the composition and performed it dozens of times. This concert was followed by two others of the same type in 1968 and 1973, called the Second and Third Sacred Concerts, respectively. This caused enormous controversy in what was already a tumultuous time in the United States. Many saw the Sacred Music suites as an attempt to reinforce commercial support for organized religion, though Ellington simply said it was, "the most important thing I've done."
Though his later work is overshadowed by his music of the early 1940s, Ellington continued to make vital and innovative recordings, including
The Far East Suite (1966), "The New Orleans Suite" (1970), and "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse" (1971), much of it inspired by his world tours. It was during this time that Ellington recorded his only album with
Frank Sinatra, entitled
Francis A. & Edward K..
Ellington was awarded the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and the
Legion of Honor by
France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. He died of
lung cancer and
pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and was interred in the
Woodlawn Cemetery,
The Bronx,
New York City. At his funeral attended by over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion, "It's a very sad day. A genius has passed." Mercer Ellington picked up the reins of the orchestra immediately after Duke's death.
Work in films and the theatre
Ellington's film work began in 1929 with the
short film Black and Tan Fantasy. His
Symphony In Black, which introduced
Billie Holiday, was performed on film in 1935, winning an
Academy Award as the best musical short subject. He also appeared in the 1930
Amos 'n' Andy film
Check and Double Check. He and his Orchestra continued to appear in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, both in short films and in features such as
Murder at the Vanities, and
Belle Of The Nineties, (1934), and
Cabin In The Sky (1943). In the late 1950s, his work in films took the shape of
scoring for
soundtracks, notably
Anatomy of a Murder (1959), with
James Stewart, in which he appeared fronting a roadhouse combo, and
Paris Blues, (1961), which featured
Paul Newman and
Sidney Poitier as jazz musicians.
He wrote an original score for Shakespeare's
Timon of Athens that was first used in the
Stratford Festival production that opened
July 29 1963 for director
Michael Langham, who has used it for several subsequent productions, most recently in an adaptation by
Stanley Silverman that expands on the score with some of Ellington's best-known works.
Ellington composed the score for the musical "Jump For Joy," which was performed in Los Angeles in 1941. Ellington's sole book musical,
Beggar's Holiday, was staged on Broadway in 1946.
Sophisticated Ladies, an award-winning 1981 musical revue, incorporated many of the tunes he made famous.
Legacy
In December of 1936 he was given the keys to the city of Los Angeles. Then, in 1966 Lyndon B. Johnson presented Ellington with the Presidents Gold Medal. Just three years later he was recognized by Richard M. Nixon with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Along with politically natured awards, he received high honors from the music community. Ellington has been honored with thirteen Grammy awards which span from 1959 to 2000, nine of which he lived to receive. In addition to a variety of awards, numerous memorials have been dedicated to Duke Ellington. A statue of Ellington at a piano is featured at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall.
Gunther Schuller said "Ellington composed incessantly to the very last days of his life. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. In jazz he was a giant among giants. And in twentieth century music, he may yet one day be recognized as one of the half-dozen greatest masters or our time."
Martin Williams said "Duke Ellington lived long enough to hear himself named among our best composers. And since his death in 1974, it has become not at all uncommon to see him named, along with
Charles Ives, as the greatest composer we've produced, regardless of category."
In Ellington's birthplace of Washington, D.C., there stands a school dedicated to his honor and memory as well as a majestic bridge. The
Duke Ellington School of the Arts educates talented students, who are considering careers in the arts, by providing intensive arts instruction and strong academic programs that prepare students for post-secondary education and professional careers. The massive
Duke Ellington Bridge, built in 1935, carries Calvert Street over the ravine of
Rock Creek Park, connecting
Woodley Park to
Adams Morgan. Ellington lived for years in a townhouse on the corner of Manhattan's
Riverside Drive and West 106th Street. After his death, West 106th Street was officially renamed Duke Ellington Boulevard. A large memorial to Ellington, created by sculptor
Robert Graham, was dedicated in 1997 in New York's
Central Park, near
Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, an intersection named Duke Ellington Circle. Although he made two more stage appearances before his death, Ellington performed what is considered his final "full" concert in a ballroom at
Northern Illinois University on
March 20 1974. The hall was renamed the Duke Ellington Ballroom in 1980.
Awards and recognitions
Grammy Awards
| Duke Ellington Grammy Award History |
| Year |
Category |
Title |
Genre |
Result |
| 1999 |
Historical Album |
The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition
RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973) |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1979 |
Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band |
Duke Ellington At Fargo, 1940 Live |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1976 |
Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band |
The Ellington Suites |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1972 |
Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band |
Toga Brava Suite |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1971 |
Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band |
New Orleans Suite |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1968 |
Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group
Or Soloist With Large Group |
...And His Mother Called Him Bill |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1967 |
Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group
Or Soloist With Large Group |
Far East Suite |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1966 |
Best Original Jazz Composition |
In The Beginning God |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1965 |
Best Instrumental Jazz Performance -
Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group |
New Orleans Suite |
Jazz |
Winner |
| 1959 |
Best Performance By A Dance Band |
Anatomy Of A Murder |
Pop |
Winner |
| 1959 |
Best Musical Composition First Recorded
And Released In 1959
(More Than 5 Minutes Duration) |
Anatomy Of A Murder |
Composing |
Winner |
| 1959 |
Best Sound Track Album - Background Score
From A Motion Picture Or Television |
Anatomy Of A Murder |
Composing |
Winner |
Grammy Hall of Fame
Recordings of Duke Ellington were inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."
Honors & inductions
U.S. Postage Stamp
|
| Year Issued |
Stamp |
USA |
Note |
| 1986 |
22 cents Commemorative stamp |
U.S. Postage Stamps |
Photo (Scott #2211) |
Tributes
- Sathima Bea Benjamin -- South African vocalist wrote "Gift of Love" in memory of Duke Ellington on her 1987 album Love Light.
- Dave Brubeck -- dedicated "The Duke" (1954) to Ellington and it became a standard covered by others, both during Ellington's lifetime (such as Miles Davis in 1957 on Miles Ahead) and posthumously (such as George Shearing in 1992 on ).
- Judy Collins -- wrote "Song For Duke" in 1975, and included it on her album Judith.
- Miles Davis -- one month after Ellington's death, created his half-hour dedicated dirge "He Loved Him Madly" (1974) collected on Get Up with It.
- Mercer Ellington -- (1919–1996) led The Duke Ellington Orchestra after his father's death.
- Stevie Wonder -- wrote the song "Sir Duke" as a tribute to Ellington in 1976.
- Paul Ellington -- leads The Duke Ellington Orchestra (1996-?).
- Barrie Lee Hall -- often leads The Duke Ellington Orchestra in Paul Ellington's absence. Mr. Hall played in the orchestra under both the Duke and Mercer.
Discography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Duke Ellington'.
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