Leadsheet: Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington

Lead Sheet: a simple score that
LEADSHEET provides jazz musicians with the

necessary information from which
to play and improvise on a song.
Edward Kennedy
Duke Ellington
was the most prolific composer of the 20th century in both
number of pieces and variety of forms. His artistic development
was one of the most spectacular in the history of music: more than
50 years of sustained achievement as a composer culminating in
his late masterpieces Such Sweet Thunder (1957), The Nutcracker
Suite (1960), and The New Orleans Suite (1970).
Launching Pad
The Early Years
Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., on April
29, 1899. Both of his parents played the piano,
and he himself began to learn to play at a young
age. As a boy he was as interested in painting
and sports as in music, but as a teenager he
had begun to win acclaim playing the piano
in dance bands at parties and clubs around
Washington, and he decided to dedicate
the rest of his life to music.
Rockin In Rhythm
Swinging in Harlem
By 1923 he had moved to New York City and had his own
band, the Washingtonians, which played regularly at the
Club Kentucky. From 1927 to 1932 Ellington and his band,
which had grown from five musicians to
ten, performed at the Cotton Club in
Harlem (performances were broadcast
across the country). By then they had
also made many best-selling
recordings, including worldwide hits
like Mood Indigo (1930).
10
Half the Fun Take the
The Strayhorn A Train
Legacy Duke on
the Road
In 1939 Ellington hired a young
pianist and composer from Ellington wrote music for
Pittsburgh, Billy Strayhorn all kinds of settings -
(1915-1967). Strayhorn composed dozens from the ballroom, the
of pieces in the Ellington Orchestras repertoire, including their comedy stage, and the
theme song, Take the A Train (1941). The very best jazz nightclub to the movie
musicians joined the Orchestra, and sometimes it grew as house, the theater, the concert
large as eighteen to twenty players. Ellington wrote music hall, and the cathedral. By the 1960s, Duke
specifically for those individual musicians. and his orchestra performed close to 300 concerts a
year before enthusiastic, admiring audiences all over the
world. Anticipating the present-day movement embracing
I Let A Song Go world music, he incorporated themes, ideas, and
Out of My Heart feelings he picked up in his constant touring into works
Reminiscing in Tempo like The Far East Suite (1964) and The Afro-Eurasian
Eclipse Suite (1971).
From the start of his career Ellington
displayed enormous inventive powers.
The extent of his innovations, still not Blue Feeling
fully recognized, was such as to The End of an Era
redefine the various forms in which
he worked. He synthesized many Duke Ellington died on May 24,
of the elements of American music 1974. In addition to his nearly 2,000
- the minstrel song, ragtime, compositions and innumerable
Tin Pan Alley, the blues, and recordings, he left a distinctive
American appropriations of the personal account of his life and work
European music tradition - into in his autobiography Music Is My
a consistent style, which Mistress, published in 1973.
though technically complex
had a directness, simplicity of
expression and intent largely missing
from the so-called art music
of the twentieth century. Suggested Ellington Discography
Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band Duke Ellington (Bluebird 82876508572 recorded 1940-1942)
Ellingtons first great achievements Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington 1926-1931 (Decca GRD3-640)
came in the three-minute song form Such Sweet Thunder (Columbia 65568, recorded 1957)
16 Most Requested Songs (Columbia Records, CK 57901, recorded 1932-1960)
of his first records (in the 1920s Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington The Great Summit/Complete Sessions/ Deluxe Edition (Roulette Jazz 7243 5 24546 2 4)
phonograph records could hold only Three Suites (Columbia Records, CK 46825, recorded 1960-61)
about three minutes of music on a Suggested Ellington Bibliography

side). His blues writing resulted in Music is My Mistress by Duke Ellington (DaCapo Press, Inc., 1976)
new conceptions of blues form, The World of Duke Ellington by Stanley Dance (DaCapo Press, Inc., 2001)
Ellington/ The Early Years by Mark Tucker (University of Illinois Press, 1995)
harmony, and melody. He was also The Duke Ellington Reader by Mark Tucker (Oxford University Press, Inc., 1995)
the master of the romantic ballad. Jump for Joy by Jazz at Lincoln Center (Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc., 1999)
Suggested Ellington Videos

Hollywood Rhythm, Volume 1: The Best of Jazz & Blues, Kino Int. Corp., 1929-41.
Duke Ellington, Good Years of Jazz, Video Yesteryear, 1962
Duke Ellington: Memories of Duke, WarnerVision Entertainment, 1968
Duke Ellington in Europe, 1963-64, Green Video, 1980
On the Road with Duke Ellington, Direct Cinema Limited, 1995
Anatomy of a Murder, Columbia TriStar, 1959
Paris Blues, Key Video, 1961
11

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Leadsheet: Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington

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Lead Sheet: a simple score that

LEADSHEET provides jazz musicians with the

about three minutes of music on a Suggested Ellington Bibliography

Suggested Ellington Videos

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