Duke Ellington

American jazz pianist and composer

Photo by: Unknown author · Public Domain · Wikimedia Commons

Born:April 29, 1899

Died:May 24, 1974

Age at death:75

Manner of death:Natural Causes

Cause of death:Lung Cancer

Zodiac Sign:Taurus

Born in:Washington, D.C., United States

Residence:Duke Ellington House, United States

Buried in:United States

Languages:English

Composer Autobiographer Bandleader Musician Film Score Composer Jazz Musician Orchestra Leader Record Producer Lyricist Conductor Pianist Jazz Arranger Music Arranger

Signature

Links

Wikipedia Official Website IMDb Facebook

Famous For

Notable Work

It Don't Mean a ThingSolitudeJust Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)HarlemBlack, Brown and Beige

Bands

Duke Ellington Orchestra

Movies & TV

Anatomy of a MurderCabin in the SkyBelle of the NinetiesBirth of the BluesMurder at the Vanities

Songs & Albums

Anatomy of a MurderTake the "A" TrainIt Don't Mean a ThingParis BluesEllington at Newport

Awards

Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards (1999)Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album (1972)honorary doctor of the Berklee College of Music (1971)Songwriters Hall of Fame (1971)Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969)

Duke Ellington

American jazz pianist and composer

Biography

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Music critic Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer". Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multiple extended compositions, or suites, as well as many short pieces. For a few years at the beginning of Strayhorn's involvement, Ellington's orchestra featured bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, and reached what many claim to be a creative peak for the group. Some years later, following a low-profile period, an appearance by Ellington and his orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 led to a major revival and regular world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in and scored several films, and composed a handful of stage musicals. Although a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, in the opinion of Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld, "the most significant composer of the genre", Ellington himself embraced the phrase "beyond category", considering it a liberating principle, and referring to his music as part of the more general category of American music. Ellington was known for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, as well as for his eloquence and charisma. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Duke Ellington”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Quotes

“It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing).”

— Song title (1932).

“I think of music sometimes in terms of color [...] and [in a furnace] I like to see the flames licking yellow in the dark and then pulsing down to a kind of red glow.”

“As Bach says [...] if you ain't got a left hand, you ain't worth a hoot in hell.”

Quotes sourced from the Wikiquote article "Duke Ellington", available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Publicity photo of Duke Ellington

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Duke Ellington, Aquarium, New York, N.Y., ca. Nov. 1946] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 038 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Composers--1940-1950. Pianists--1940-1950. Aquarium Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Group portraits--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.02311 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 0231 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Duke Ellington, Zanzibar, New York, N.Y., ca. July 1946] 1 negative : b&w ; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Caption from Down Beat: Duke Ellington (Zanzibar). Duke was finally allowed to play a concert in Washington, D. C., his home town. At the Watergate, June 6th, he drew a crowd of 7,000 with another 2,000 catching the show from the Lincoln Memorial grounds, Arlington Bridge, and from canoes in the Potomac River. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 129 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). In: The Record Changer, v. 5, no. 5 (July 46, 1946), p. 11. Subjects: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Composers--1940-1950. Pianists--1940-1950. Zanzibar Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.02481 Call Number: LC-GLB13- 0248 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Duke Ellington, Paramount Theater, New York, N.Y., ca. Sept. 1946] 1 negative : b&w ; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Caption from Down Beat: Fifth in the series of staff lensman Bill Gottlieb's intimate dressing room shots of musical celebrities is Duke Ellington, with the mirror reflecting his always present piano, his conservative ties, his 20 suits, his 15 shirts, his suede shoes and his smiling self. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 123 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). In: "Through the looking glass," Down Beat, v. 13, no. 20 (Sept. 23, 1946), p. 16. Subjects: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Composers--1940-1950. Pianists--1940-1950. Paramount Theater Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.02291 Call Number: LC-GLB13- 0229 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington, Aquarium, New York, N.Y., ca. Nov. 1946] 1 negative : b&w ; 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 038 Reference print available in Music Division, Library of Congress. Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Reinhardt, Django, 1910-1953 Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 Duke Ellington Orchestra Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Guitarists--1940-1950. Composers--1940-1950. Pianists--1940-1950. Aquarium Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Cityscape photographs--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print (reference print) Library of Congress, Music Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, loc.gov/rr/perform/ Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.07321 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 0732 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. [Portrait of Duke Ellington and Junior Raglin, Howard Theater(?), Washington, D.C., between 1938 and 1948] 1 negative : b&w ; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 127 Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 Raglin, Junior, 1917-1955 Duke Ellington Orchestra Jazz musicians--1930-1950. Composers--1930-1950. Pianists--1930-1950. Double bassists--1930-1950. Format: Portrait photographs--1930-1950. Cityscape photographs--1930-1950. Film negatives--1930-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.11121 Call Number: LC-GLB13- 1112 Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is from the William P. Gottlieb collection at the Library of Congress. Rights and restrictions. In accordance with the wishes of William Gottlieb, the photographs in this collection entered into the public domain on February 16, 2010.

Local call number: N048624 Title: [Group portrait of Duke Ellington with family and friends] Personal Author: Erickson, Roy. Date: Photographed between December 1968 and June 1969. Physical descrip: 1 photonegative: b&w; 4 x 5 in. Series Title: (Print Collections. N2006-13, Roy Erickson collection.) General note: The photographer, Roy Erickson, was a professional photographer in the Ft. Lauderdale area and was affiliated with the Best of Broward magazine for over 10 years. Accompanying note: "Possibly alto saxophonist Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, unknown man, unknown woman, possibly trombonist Lawrence Brown, Duke Ellington, Edna Ellington, Mercer Ellington, unknown, unknown, unknown." Repository: State Library and Archives of Florida, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA. Contact: 850.245.6700. Archives@dos.state.fl.us Persistent URL: www.floridamemory.com/items/show/156522