Duke Ellington

It's one hundred and thirty years ago, since the American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader, Duke Ellington was born.

He was one of the most important creative forces in the music of the twentieth century, and brought a level of style and sophistication to jazz that it hadn't ever seen before, and although he was a gifted piano player, his orchestra was his principal instrument.

He was born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C. into a middle class black family. His father was a butler in a wealthy household, who was said to have sometimes worked at the White House. As a young boy, Duke originally had ambitions of becoming a painter, but he became interested in music in his early teens and learned James P Johnson's Carolina Shout from a piano roll.

Soon he was part of a small jazz band in Washington, and then in 1923 he moved to New York. In early in 1924 he became the leader of his own band, and was soon recording. In 1927 his band was hired to play regularly at the Cotton Club, where he stayed for five years. The Cotton Club performances were broadcast almost nightly, and so by 1930, Duke Ellington and his band had hit the big time.

I wonder if he ever realized how timeless his music would be, or that his reputation would continue to rise years after his death? 

You can listen to several shows on RUSC featuring Duke Ellington as a special guest. Two of the shows I'd recommend are from the series Swing Time. and the Tommy Dorsey Show. There are more shows on RUSC which you'll find by clicking here, or if you can get a hold of it, I would personally recommend 'The Gold Collection' LP on vinyl or audio CD.

Happy listening my friends,