Duke Ellington: Jazz Composer and Bandleader

• Duke Ellington, born Edward Kennedy Ellington in 1899 in Washington, DC, was a sophisticated, polite, handsome, and elegant figure.
• He was one of the most influential figures in jazz and American music.
• Though a gifted pianist, his success came from composing band music in the age of the big band.
• Ellington had one of the longest careers of any jazz musician, adapting to musical influences throughout the 20th century.
• He adapted from the age of swing, to the 1960s social revolution.
• Ellington attracted the attention of filmmakers, with his band appearing in several movies during the 1930s, including Black and Tan.

Early Life and Career

• 1906: Began piano lessons at age seven.
• 1914: Composed his first two pieces, Soda Fountain Rag and What you Gonna Do When the Bed Breaks Down, by age 14.
• His friends nicknamed him Duke for his stylish and polite demeanor.
• 1917: Formed his first group, The Duke's Serenaders, at age 18
• They played at dance balls for $5.
• By 1923, Duke had moved to New York, playing in various clubs with his band, renamed The Washingtonians.
• 1927: Ellington and his band played at the Cotton Club in New York and found an international audience.
• 1930s: Duke and his band left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured the US and Europe.
• They were now an established swing band, and the 1930s was their heyday.
• 1940s-1950s: The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s.
• Ellington's Orchestra survived new developments in jazz.
• In 1956, they gained new audiences.
• 1960s: He and his band played with top musicians such as John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Frank Sinatra.
• 1974: Ellington died of cancer at age 75, and 12,000 people attended his funeral.

Musical Influences

• Harvey Brooks (1899-1968): A ragtime pianist who taught young Ellington piano-playing techniques that were loose, free, and inspiring.
• James "Bubber" Miley (1903-1932): An early experimenter on the trumpet, his style changed the sound of Ellington's band to one that was hotter and more contemporary.

The Cotton Club

• Duke Ellington and his band became the house band at the Cotton Club in 1927.
• It was the most famous nightspot in Harlem, a Black neighborhood of New York.
• Initially, the Cotton Club would let only white people in.
• Eventually, the club relaxed its white-only policy slightly, at a request from Ellington.
• His broad appeal helped break down racial barriers.
• Live radio broadcasts went out from the Cotton Club to all of the US.
• In the 1920s and 1930s, Ellington became one of the leading jazz artists to make open political statements, protesting about racial segregation in his music.

Jazz and its Subgenres

• Ellington lived through the "Age of Jazz," when different types of jazz were developing.
• Jazz combined African-influenced music with European melodies and instruments.
• The first generation of free Black Americans, including people like Scott Joplin, brought their music to the US public
• The blues: An influence in the development of jazz, it portrays emotions and is identifiable by its distinctive scale and set of chords.
• Ragtime: "Ragged" (syncopated) rhythm gives ragtime its name; precursor to jazz, popular between 1897 and 1918.
• Boogie-woogie: A type of piano-based blues that is danceable.
• Syncopation: Fundamental to jazz, where stressed beats that aren't usually stressed give the music its all-important rhythm.
• Swing: Played by big bands in the 1930s, swing has a rhythmic "feel" or "groove" that encourages dancing.

Duke Ellington's Musical Output

: He composed more than 1,500 songs.

• He scored the soundtrack on many films.
• He also wrote jazz "suites" that lasted more than an hour.
• The group needed a big band and talented players to realise the music.
• Ellington hired some of the greatest, most creative players of the time.
• They include Johnny Hodges, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton, and Cootie Williams.
• Ellington's hits:
• It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
• Solitude.
• "A" Train was a signature song by Duke Ellington and his orchestra and is one of the most well-known jazz compositions.

Explore the life and career of Duke Ellington, a pivotal figure in jazz and American music. From his early piano lessons to leading a prominent big band, Ellington's compositions and adaptations shaped 20th-century music. Discover his influence on film and his impact on the swing era and beyond.