| Duke Ellington | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Amazing El Duke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No one person can sum up the life of someone who's life has touched so many others, this is the legacy of Duke Ellington. From the early years on he has helped others who have had the fortune to have known him. Edward Kennedy Ellington, born to Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington in 1899, was one of the greatest people who lived, not just by his musical ability, but in the fact that he never had a bad word for anyone, he was such a selfless person that even his "autobiography" Music Is My Mistress was written about all the people who had touched his life. Duke Ellington , who got his "royal" title just before his high school years on account of how he dressed, began his musical career in his teens by playing around in some local bands. He then began to broaden his horizons and sent out his own bands realizing that he could collect the net profits that he normally turned into his manager. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| A Hard Day at Work | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In 1927 the Washingtonians, which was formed from his number one band in 1923, had a stint at the Kentucky Club for the spring. Then, in what became a major turning point in the band's popularity, they became the feature band at the Cotton Club, which was the premier club in Harlem. They stayed there until 1931 when they decided to see if they could handle it on the road. It started off rocky, but after time the bookings kept coming in. Then in 1933 the band had it's first overseas gig. Traveling all over Europe they quickly gained popularity with the international community. Along the way he met several dignitaries who he formed lasting friendships with. Over the years the band gained more and more of a reputation, they were one of the most popular bands even through the 1940's. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Lovable Duke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Then in the 1950's people began to stray from the swing that the Duke Ellington Orchestra helped make famous and started flocking toward the newer more popular form of music, rock and roll. | Things began easing down from their height in popularity and by the mid-1950's they took a back seat to rock and roll. Then in 1956, at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, RI, they shot back into success with the hit 'Diminuendo And Crescendo In Blue', the height of that piece being the record breaking "wailing interval", the part between the two halves of that arrangement when tenorman Paul Gonsalaves cranked out a 28 chorus improv sending the crowd into a frenzy. From then on the band gained popularity, hitting a stride not seen in many years. Of all the friends Duke had, the one that meant the most to him was his good friend and prot�g� Billy Strayhorn. Most people think of Billy Strayhorn as a second to Ellington, when in fact (as Ellington mentioned in Music Is My Mistress) their abilities were equal in many ways. His death in 1967 affected Ellington very deeply, and the band came out with an all Strayhorn album
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