Duke Ellington

Musician

• Born: April 29, 1899
• Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
• Died: May 24, 1974
• Place of death: New York, New York

Jazz musician, composer, and bandleader

In a career spanning nearly sixty years, Ellington was one of the most influential and innovative figures in jazz. The scope of his musical work ranged from orchestral swing and big band to bebop and cool jazz. He composed and arranged jazz standards and large symphonic jazz works.

Areas of achievement: Film: music; Music: bandleading; Music: composition; Music: jazz; Music: Latin, Caribbean, and reggae; Music: swing

Early Life

Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, D.C., during the heyday of ragtime. He was the son of Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington. He was exposed to the piano and different kinds of music at an early age since both of his parents played; his mother opted for parlor standards while his father preferred classical music. Ellington was raised at home by his mother and her parents while his father worked as a butler for Dr. Middleton F. Cuthbert, a white physician. Ellington was known as a mild-mannered and even-tempered young man with exceptional manners, fine command of language, and a love of elegant clothes and luxury, probably because of his father’s influence. These personality characteristics led to his nickname, “Duke,” and served him well later on as an entertainer, a bandleader, and artistic collaborator. He began piano lessons early, although he did not favor studying music until his teens, just after hearing rag and stride pianists perform.

At age fifteen, Ellington took a job as a soda jerk in the Poodle Dog Café. “Soda Fountain Rag,” also known as “Poodle Dog Rag,” may have been his first composition (a year earlier, he may have written some incidental music by ear to accompany a street magician). This experience led quickly to his first arranging experience: He experimented with changing the rhythm of the song within the parameters of ragtime style and then rewriting the song in the style of a waltz, tango, and other kinds of dance music. Ellington focused on music (including music theory), particularly piano, under Dunbar High School music teacher Henry Lee Grant. He also continued playing ragtime by ear and eventually played in nightclubs and cafés throughout Washington, D.C. For employment reasons, Ellington also studied commercial art. He turned down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and then dropped out of the Armstrong Manual Training School to pursue his music career. In the meantime, he studied briefly at Howard University and worked gigs as a solo pianist and with small ensembles. In 1917, Ellington established his first music ensemble, the Duke’s Serenaders, who played for both white and black audiences. The ensemble broke up when the drummer, Sonny Greer, joined the Wilber Sweatman Orchestra in New York City. Ellington decided to move there, too—not to follow Greer, but because he was drawn to the Harlem Renaissance and its potential to help him develop as a bandleader, composer, musician, and artist.

Life’s Work

Although Ellington’s first visit to New York was a failure and he returned to Washington, D.C., he moved back again to New York City in 1923. He followed Fats Waller’s advice and joined Elmer Snowden’s band, the Washingtonians (Greer was the band’s drummer). That year, the Washingtonians played at the Hollywood Club and the Club Kentucky. Ellington took over as bandleader when Snowden left. Their songs included “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” (1926) and “Black and Tan Fantasy” (1927). Bubber Miley, who was well known for his growling trumpet sound as well as muting techniques, joined the orchestra briefly at this time. He worked with Ellington on composing “Black and Tan Fantasy.” Their successful run at the Hollywood Club and Club Kentucky led to an engagement from 1927 to 1930 at the Cotton Club in Harlem, where Louis Armstrong and King Oliver performed. At the time, Ellington’s orchestra included clarinetist Barney Bigard, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, trumpeter Cootie Williams, trombonist Juan Tizol, and drummer Greer. They recorded songs like “The Mooche” (1928) and “Mood Indigo” (1930). Their Cotton Club show became so famous that the orchestra was asked to appear in the Hollywood film Check and Double Check in 1930. Some of the lighter-skinned members were asked to wear dark makeup in the film. “Mood Indigo” became extremely popular worldwide.

From 1933 until 1939, the band toured the United States and overseas. Irving Mills, Ellington’s agent and publisher, arranged the orchestra’s travels so its members would spend their nights on trains rather than in hotels. (Ellington’s contract agreement gave Mills authorship to his music as well as what would later be considered too large a share of Ellington’s profits.) During the 1930’s, members of Ellington’s orchestra made hundreds of recordings in studios in New York and Los Angeles. Mills ownedMaster Records, which had a cheaper label known as Variety. Sound recordings that employed the entire orchestra were made for Master while ensemble recordings were destined for Master or Variety. During Ellington’s career, other labels (such as Brunswick, Decca, RCA-Victor, Capitol, and Columbia) also recorded Ellington and his orchestra.

The period from 1932 to 1942 is widely considered Ellington’s most creative decade. He continued to compose symphonic works as well as staged works and released a string of hits, including “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”(1932), “Solitude” (1934), and “Take the ’A’ Train” (1941). “’A’ Train” initiated a longtime collaboration with lyricist, arranger, composer, and pianist Billy Strayhorn. In the 1940’s and 1950’s, Ellington made several recordings for Victor. Some songs from this period are “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (1942), “I’m Beginning to See the Light” (1945), “Come to Baby, Do” (1946), a new rendition of “Caravan” (1951) with percussive piano effects that mimicked the sound of a steam locomotive, and “Satin Doll” (1953). Although Greer, Hodges, and trombonist Lawrence Brown left in 1951, and Strayhorn followed soon afterward, Ellington and his orchestra managed a hit with “Satin Doll” and appeared in some of the earliest televised videos of an ensemble.

Ellington also drew critical acclaim for his group’s performance of a new version of “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” (composed in 1937 but this time featuring tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves) at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Ellington signed a contract with Columbia, which released the recording of the performance a year later. The Newport appearance and the LP, which became a best seller, led to an enthusiastic reception at the first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958. On his return, Ellington went on a tour of the United States that included participating in United Service Organizations(USO) musical productions such as Rolling Along (1959) at Fort Dix. With Strayhorn, who returned to the orchestra, Ellington scored the films Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961).

Ellington reunited with musicians such as Brown, Tizol, and Williams in the early 1960’s. He took his orchestra on worldwide tours yet managed to remain involved in the evolution of jazz. In 1962, he recorded Money Jungle with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach. It received mixed reviews but proved to be a fascinating hybrid of hot jazz and bebop. It also demonstrated that Ellington was still a fine pianist. His final recordings included lengthy works like The Far East Suite (1966), New Orleans Suite (1970), and The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse (1971).

Ellington died from pneumonia as a result of lung cancer on May 24, 1974. Two years after his death, singer Stevie Wonder had a hit with “Sir Duke,” a tribute to Ellington.

Significance

Ellington influenced countless jazz composers and musicians by assuming the role of mentor, bandleader, manager, collaborator, and friend. His musical output consisted of thousands of compositions; many were jazz standards, award-winning songs, and larger works. His orchestral hits that ranked number one on U.S. charts included “Three Little Words” (1930), “Cocktails for Two” (1934), and “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” (1938). His symphonic works gave the lasting impression that jazz could be serious music. Suites included Reminiscing in Tempo (1935), Bluetopia (1944), Far East Suite (1964), New Orleans Suite (1971), and Togo Brava Suite (1971). Notable film scores included Symphony in Black (1935), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and Paris Blues (1961). In 1965, Ellington was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music; he received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation in Music in 1999. By 2010, thirteen of Ellington’s sound recordings had earned Grammy Awards and nine had received Grammy Hall of Fame status in recognition of their historical significance. Ellington won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966.

Bibliography

Dance, Stanley. The World of Duke Ellington. 2d ed. New York: Da Capo Press, 2000. Based on interviews with musicians who performed with Ellington. Dance was a jazz historian, critic, and friend of Ellington.

Ellington, Duke. Music Is My Mistress. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973. Ellington’s autobiography reveals his perspective on his own life, compositional output, and music.

George, Don. Sweet Man: The Real Duke Ellington. New York: Putnam, 1981. This biography contains lyricist George’s recollections of collaborating with Ellington, his close friend.

Hasse, John Edward. Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. A biography of Ellington’s life and career, based on research in the Ellington archives at the Smithsonian Institute.

Howland, John.“Ellington Uptown”: Duke Ellington, James P. Johnson, and the Birth of Concert Jazz. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2009. Howland discusses Ellington’s extended symphonic concert model and his cultural and artistic milieu during his years in New York.

Morton, John Fass. Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport ’56. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2008. This study is one of few detailed accounts of Ellington’s late career as a conductor, composer, and festival concert performer.

Tucker, Mark, ed. The Duke Ellington Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. This anthology contains writings about Ellington in addition to the composer’s own writings, especially during his early years.