- Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for DMP Big Band Salutes Duke Ellington - DMP Big Band on AllMusic - 1997 - This tribute to Duke.
- The Tucson Jazz Institute presents The Ellington Big Band, voted the #1 community jazz band in the USA by Wynton Marsalis and Jazz At Lincoln Center's 2010.
Duke Ellington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Duke Ellington. Ellington c.
Background information. Birth name. Edward Kennedy Ellington. Born(1. 89. 9- 0. April 2. 9, 1. 89. Washington, D. C., U. SDied. May 2. 4, 1. New York City, New York, U.
S. Genres. Orchestral jazz, swing, big band. Occupation(s)Bandleader, musician, composer. Instruments. Piano. Years active. 19. Websitewww. dukeellington.
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 2. May 2. 4, 1. 97. 4) was an American composer, pianist and bandleader of jazz orchestras. He led his orchestra from 1. Born in Washington, D.
Duke Ellington Legacy Big Band & Duke Ellington Legacy Band – official website of the family organization Duke Ellington Legacy; Symphony In Black (discussion and film). Recollections of the Big Band Era; Studio album by Duke Ellington; Released: 1974: Recorded: November 29, 1962, December 11, 13, 14, 20 & 29, 1962 & January 3 & 4, 1963. Photo: TJI Ellington Big Band in Essentially Ellington's winning performance. The Tucson Jazz Institute is home to the award-winning TJI big bands and combos. Duke Ellington Sacred Concert en directe. Coral Maristes Montserrat de Lleida Big Band de Lleida Gerard Riu, director Jaume Olivé, director Irene Olivé,….
C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid- 1. Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1. 93. 0s, his orchestra toured in Europe. Though widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase "beyond category" as a liberating principle, and referred to his music as part of the more general category of American Music, rather than to a musical genre such as jazz.[2]Some of the musicians who were members of Ellington's orchestra, such as saxophonist Johnny Hodges, are considered to be among the best players in jazz. Ellington melded them into the best- known orchestral unit in the history of jazz. Some members stayed with the orchestra for several decades.
A master at writing miniatures for the three- minute 7. Ellington often composed specifically to feature the style and skills of his individual musicians.
Often collaborating with others, Ellington wrote more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, with many of his extant works having become standards. Ellington also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, for example Juan Tizol's "Caravan", and "Perdido", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. After 1. 94. 1, Ellington collaborated with composer- arranger- pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion.[3] With Strayhorn, he composed many extended compositions, or suites, as well as additional short pieces.
Following an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, in July 1. Ellington and his orchestra enjoyed a major career revival and embarked on world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in several films, scoring several, and composed stage musicals. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and charisma, Ellington is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional musical genres. His reputation continued to rise after his death, and he was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for music in 1.
Early life[edit]Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born on April 2. James Edward Ellington and Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D. C. Both his parents were pianists. Daisy primarily played parlor songs and J. E. preferred operatic arias. They lived with his maternal grandparents at 2.
Ida Place (now Ward Place), NW in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D. C.[5] Duke's father was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 1. Washington, D. C. Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.
C., on January 4, 1. American slave .[5][7] James Ellington made blueprints for the United States Navy. When Ellington was a child, his family showed racial pride and support in their home, as did many other families. African Americans in D. C. worked to protect their children from the era's Jim Crow laws.[8]At the age of seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales.
Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him to live elegantly. 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,[9] and began calling him "Duke." Ellington credited his chum Edgar Mc. Entree for 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."[1. Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball.
President Roosevelt (Teddy) would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play", he recalled.[1. Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D. C. He got his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games. In the summer of 1.
Poodle Dog Café, Ellington wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). He created the piece by ear, as he had not 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 recalled. Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire."[1. In his autobiography, Music is my Mistress (1.
Ellington wrote that he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that playing the piano was not his talent. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at the age of fourteen. Hearing the poolroom pianists play ignited Ellington's love for the instrument, and he began to take his piano studies seriously. Among the many piano players he listened to were Doc Perry, Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, Turner Layton, Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Blind Johnny, Cliff Jackson, Claude Hopkins, Phil Wurd, Caroline Thornton, Luckey Roberts, Eubie Blake, Joe Rochester, and Harvey Brooks.[1.
Ellington began listening to, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D. C., but in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer months.[1. 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 stride pianists. James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. 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. His attachment to music was so strong that in 1.
Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Three months before graduating he dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art.[1. Working as a freelance sign- painter from 1. Ellington began assembling groups to play for dances. In 1. 91. 9 he met drummer Sonny Greer from New Jersey, who encouraged Ellington's ambition to become a professional musician.
Ellington built his music business through his day job: when a customer asked him to make a sign for a dance or party, he would ask if they had musical entertainment; if not, Ellington would offer to play for the occasion. He also had a messenger job with the U. S. Navy and State departments, where he made a wide range of contacts. Ellington moved out of his parents' home and bought his own as he became a successful pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, and in late 1.
The Duke's Serenaders" ("Colored Syncopators", his telephone directory advertising proclaimed).[1. He was also the group's booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall, where he took home 7.
Ellington played throughout the Washington, D. C. area and into Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included childhood friend Otto Hardwick, who started on string bass, then moved to C- melody sax and finally settled on alto saxophone; Arthur Whetsol on trumpet; Elmer Snowden on banjo; and Sonny Greer on drums. The band thrived, performing for both African- American and white audiences, a rarity in the segregated society of the time.[1. Music career[edit]. East St. Louis Toodle- Oo" (1. Early career[edit]When his 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 move to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance. New dance crazes such as the Charleston emerged in Harlem, 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 gigs they could find. The young band met stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, who introduced them to the scene and gave them some money.
They played at rent- house parties for income. After a few months, the young musicians returned to Washington, D. C., feeling discouraged. In June 1. 92. 3, a gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey, led to a play date at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem. This was followed in September 1. Hollywood Club – 4. Broadway – and a four- year engagement, which gave Ellington a solid artistic base.
He was known to play the bugle at the end of each performance. The group was initially called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. They renamed themselves The Washingtonians. Snowden left the group in early 1. Ellington took over as bandleader. After a fire, the club was re- opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the Kentucky Club).
Ellington made eight records in 1. Choo Choo".[1. 7] In 1. Ellington contributed four songs to Chocolate Kiddies starring Lottie Gee and Adelaide Hall,[1. African- American revue which introduced European audiences to African- American styles and performers. Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra grew to a group of ten players; they developed their own sound by 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.