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.”
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