The Life and Legacy of Duke Ellington by Alice Ayvazian

 

The Life and Legacy of Duke Ellington

by Alice Ayvazian 

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington is considered as one of the key figures in Jazz history whose band and compositions shaped and influenced the musical genre in a profound manner, producing a huge body of work which includes original compositions within popular culture, as well as film scores, musicals, sacred music and suites.

Born in April 29 1899 in Washington D.C., Ellington grew up quite comfortably since his father, James Edward Ellington, was employed as a butler at the White House. At the tender age of seven, he gained access to musical instruments which intrigued him towards his early musical steps. Piano lessons followed from Marietta Clinkscales, which led to even a greater desire to dedicate and pursue a future and a career in music. His friends started calling him ‘Duke’, a nickname which would become his staple, due to his well manners and sense of style, virtues which were instilled to him mainly by his mother, Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington.

Young Duke started listening to ragtime and was greatly influenced by that style of music at first before entering the swing era. He attentively started to imitate other piano players, especially Willie “the Lion” Smith and James P. Johnson, thus slowly crafting his skills. From 1917 and onwards, he started performing around cafes and bars in Washington D.C. As time went by, he fully immersed himself in performing and established his own group ‘The Duke’s Serenaders’ and later on ‘The Washingtonians’. He later moved to Harlem, New York to be part of the Harlem Renaissance; a period of revival within the African American community concerning the arts and overall culture during the 1920s and ‘30s.

In 1927 a great opportunity appeared for Ellington and his group to start performing at the famed Cotton Club, since King Oliver, a well-known jazz cornet player, bandleader and Louis Armstrong’s mentor, had denied the offer of booking his own group. Thus, Ellington took on the engagement for the following three years with a series of very successful shows which mixed music with vaudeville, comedy and other dance numbers. Through the course of those years, he became very well known throughout the country, partly due to radio broadcasts recorded directly from the bandstand.

By 1933 the Great Depression had caused major damage within the music industry in the United States. Therefore, Ellington took his orchestra overseas since they had a major following in many other countries as well. Some of his well-known players were trumpeter Cootie Williams, cornetist Rex Steward, and saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Some years later saxophonist Ben Webster would join as well. The band’s tours would continue for more than 4 decades where they would perform all around the world. He first started working with Billy Strayhorn, a young arranger and composer, in 1939 and started a joint collaboration which yielded many hits. Out of the many now-regarded standards that were composed throughout the years of touring, are ‘Mood Indigo’, ‘It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing’, ‘Sophisticated Lady’, ‘I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart’, ‘Caravan’, ‘Take The A Train’, ‘Satin Doll’, ‘Cotton Tail’, ‘Solitude’ and many more.  

In the 1940s and 50s he started composing a series of suites, through an idea he had of creating Jazz pieces within classical forms. That body of work yielded, ‘Black, Brown and Beige’ (1943), ‘Liberian Suite’ (1947), ‘ Drum Is A Woman’ (1956), ‘Far East Suite’ (1964) and ‘Togo Brava Suite’ (1971). He continued creating his compositions and participating in performances for as long as he could, until he succumbed to illness in 1974 and died from pneumonia and lung cancer.

Ellington’s musical legacy as a pianist, composer and Jazz orchestra leader, is a timeless contribution to American music, which has transcended to various audiences around the world. His love for his craft of composition and performing made him into a legend within the Jazz world with a career that spanned more than half a century.

“If jazz means anything, it is freedom of expression”. – Duke Ellington