Duke Ellington

BORN:

29th April 1899 in Washington DC, USA.

Duke Ellington’s grave in New York

DIED:

24th May 1974 in New York, New York, USA.

BURIED:

Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York, New York, USA.

SOME FAMOUS PIECESS:

• It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing). (See the videos below.)
• Mood Indigo.
• Sophisticated Lady.
• In a Sentimental Mood.
• Take the ‘A’ Train. (This one was written by Billy Strayhorn.)
• Plus many more.

SOME GREAT ALBUMS:

• Early Ellington (1927–1934).
• Duke Ellington 1935–36.
• The Indispensible, Vols 5/6 (1940) and Vols 7/8 (1941).
• Sophisticated Lady (1941–1946).
• At Newport (1956).
• Such Sweet Thunder (1956–1957).
• Duke Ellington and John Coltrane (1962).
• The Far East Suite (Special Mix) (1966).
• Plus many more!

SOME INTERESTING FACTS:

• He was one of the greatest jazz artists ever!
• He wrote and played great jazz for about 50 years!
• He was one of the greatest jazz artists of the swing era (1930s–early 1940s). [Swing jazz uses big bands and has a strong beat. It is often very fast as well.]
• His real first name was Edward.
• He was a piano player.
• He was a true composer. Many jazz artists do not actually write much music themselves. Duke Ellington was different. He wrote loads of music!
• He didn’t just write jazz. He also wrote film music, popular music, religious music, and even some music that could be called classical.
• He led an orchestra from 1923 until 1974. This orchestra is still going today and is called the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
• In the later 1950s and 1960s he made recording with many other great jazz artists, such as Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong.
• He was very charming and polite.
• He was very loyal to the musicians who worked for him. He also wrote his music to make each of his musicians sound as good as they possibly could.
• Over 12,000 people went to his funeral.
• His last words were, “Music is how I live, why I live and how I will be remembered.”