He passed in 1974 due to complications from lung cancer and pneumonia. Ellington performed his last shows in 1973 at Purdue University. Ellington was also still composing, having written the longer-form compositions The Far East Suite, The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse, and Latin American Suite all in his later years. He also composed the musicals Jump for Joy and Beggar’s Holiday, although neither did exceptionally well with the public.Īlthough the band did not record nearly as much in the 1950s and 1960s as they had in the previous decades, the Ellington Orchestra was still a major touring success, and the band’s touring career remained prominent for the rest of Ellington’s life, especially after his appearance at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. /loc.pnp/fsa.8d13223Įllington sought to have jazz recognized in the same realm as classical music, and one of his first “crossover” compositions, “Black, Brown, and Beige,” written for a jazz orchestra, debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1943. Duke Ellington’s orchestra playing for dancers at the Hurricane. Strayhorn quickly became Ellington’s right-hand man, and the duo worked together until the 1950s. It was during this time that Ellington met and began working closely with lyricist and arranger Billy Strayhorn. It was after this period that Ellington wrote and recorded many of his best-known compositions, including “Mood Indigo” (1930), “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (1932), “Sophisticated Lady” (1933), “Solitude” (1934), and “In a Sentimental Mood” (1935). The contract with the Cotton Club ended in 1931, but Ellington’s band did not. This led to his music gaining wider recognition, and by the next year his band had been asked to play at the Cotton Club, the famous Harlem jazz club. After gigging around the fairly competitive music scene in New York at the time, Ellington made an agreement with Irving Mills in 1926 and began producing records on labels such as Brunswick, Columbia, Victor, and others. Soon after, the Serenaders’ drummer Sonny Greer accepted an invitation to join the Wilber Sweatman Orchestra in New York City, and Ellington decided to follow shortly thereafter, moving into Harlem. By 1917 Ellington had created his first group, “The Duke’s Serenaders,” and the group was a common sight at society events at the Washington DC embassies and other private residences. It wasn’t until he was in his teens, however, that Ellington began to focus more on his musical studies, due in no small part to the jazz and ragtime performances at Frank Holiday’s Pool Hall. I consider him to be one of the first great quintessential “American” composers of his time, who wrote music in a true American idiom, rather than copying Western European composers (I would group him in with Charles Ives, as well as Scott Joplin and Louis Moreau Gottschalk, who both came the generation before).Įdward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington, DC in 1899, and while growing up he took piano lessons. Personally, I can think of no better example than Duke Ellington. Teaching Students with Visual ImpairmentsĪmerican Composers and Musicians from A to Z: E (Part 1 – Ellington, Duke)Ĭontinuing our series of American composers from A to Z, we come to the letter E.Siloam Music Rehabilitation Center for the Blind.National American Indian Heritage Month.International Council on English Braille.Braille and Audio Reading Download BARD.
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