Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Bio and Chronology
Duke Ellington stands out as the most progressive and influential jazz artist in contemporary music history. His career entailed a non-stop ten million mile tour with a colorful, mega-talented band. Duke was constantly writing for his band. His exhaustive works are displayed and catalogued by the Smithsonian Institute.
In 1944, Richard Boyer interviewed Duke, then 45 years old, during a tour. Boyer's article was entitled "The Hot Bach." The reporter observed that Duke kept moving, on buses, trains, and in taxis through every part of the world. A student from Iceland seated next to him on a train asked, "Mr. Ellington, aren't there marked similarities between you and Bach?" "Well," replied Duke, "Bach and myself both write with individual performers in mind!" For example, instead of naming a composition "Concerto for Trumpet," Duke entitled it "Concerto for Cootie" named for the performer!
We may never be able to accurately pinpoint how genres of music like jazz ever developed because of the singularity of each generation. Jazz grew swiftly from its New Orleans roots, defining a complex generation. Duke had a clear vision of purpose during the fifty years of social and political unrest in which he worked. He expressed his hope for our country through his jazz orchestrations.
By the age of 45, Duke had already "lived through the entire history of jazz, but this did not prevent fans from speaking of the trumpet player King Oliver, who died in 1938, as if he were a Pilgrim Father. In the jazz world, 1910 [was considered] the Stone Age and 1923, Medieval." Duke experimented with musical forms and possibilities, combining complex melodies and rhythms with orchestral colors that could not be codified because he kept changing the rules!
Duke's music is about the American experience in all its seriousness and humor, from sentimental blues to buoyant, syncopated optimism. In Duke's orchestrations we can hear trains and blues, passion and tears, exuberance and hope. In his piano I hear Joplin's stride accompanied with Chopin's nocturnes. He wrote scores depicting Shakespearian characters to sacred music to music for film (my favorite, Anatomy of a Murder). Duke informed Boyer how he composed music: "The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician...Things like the old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night, or something someone said long ago. I remember I once wrote a sixty-four bar piece about a memory of when I was a little boy in bed and heard a man whistling on the street outside, his footsteps echoing away. Things like these may be more important to a musician than technique."
Dozens of books have been written about Duke Ellington. Beyond Category by John Robert Hasse provides an accessible overview of his life and times. At the end of the chapters, which proceed chronologically, are excellent listening guides representative of the period.
Suggested listening: The Essence of Duke Ellington, 1937, Columbia; Ellington at Newport, 1956; Such Sweet Thunder 1957 - Sony 1999; Masterpieces by Ellington, 2004 Sony.
1899 Born Washington, D.C.
1914 Met local musicians, Frank Holliday's Poolroom
1918 Married Edna Thompson (one son, musician; Mercer)
Formed Serenaders, first professional band
1923 Formed Washingtonians with Sonny Greer; toured New England
1926 Irving Mills began to represent Duke
1927 First Cotton Club appearance; wrote Black and Tan Fantasy
1930 Mood Indigo
1931 Departed The Cotton Club to embark on national tours
1932 First European tour
1941 Take the A Train/ Billy Strayhorn hit (collaborator and arranger)
1943 Two concerts Carnegie Hall: Black Brown and Beige; New World A'Comin'
1950 European tour, 74 shows in 77 days
1956 Newport Jazz Festival revitalized career
1963 My People, featuring Ellington's music, Chicago's Century of Negro Progress
Exposition; tour of Middle East
1965 Sacred Concert, Coventry Cathedral, England
1968 Second Sacred Concert, New York City
1970 Third tour Japan; Performed Soviet Union
1973 Third Sacred Concert, Westminster Abbey, London; Tour of Africa
1974 Died of cancer, May 24.