Saturday, November 11, 2023 | Composer of the Week

Duke (Edward Kennedy) Ellington (“DUKE  EH-ling-ton”)

• Born in Washington, D.C. USA, 1899
• Died in 1974 at age 75
• Jazz Composer, Pianist and Band Leader

Compositions Include:

• Soda Fountain Rag, composed at age 15
• Mood Indigo
• Satin Doll
• It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDQpZT3GhDg
• Black, Brown, and Beige which was a jazz symphony

Other Details:

• Began piano lessons at age 7; did not take his lessons seriously and liked playing baseball better
• When a bit older, got to hear professional pianists play ragtime music in Washington D.C., which made him try harder at music
• Moved to NYC in 1920s & started his own band
• Thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn,
• Ellington usually directed his band from the piano and rarely used a conductor’s baton
• Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969