Duke ellington biography 1920s slang

When visitors enter the Museum of the City of New York’s centennial exhibition This Is New York: Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture, they are immediately greeted by the pulsating rhythms of “Daybreak Express,” composed by groundbreaking jazz pianist Duke Ellington. The tune is as feverish as it is relentless, and MCNY curators selected it specifically for its evocation of the New York City subway’s frenetic pace. Further along in the exhibition’s “Tempo of the City” gallery, early sheet music from the masterpiece, "Take the 'A' Train," composed by Billy Strayhorn and made famous by Ellington's band, is displayed behind a glass vitrine. For Ellington, widely credited with Louis Armstrong as one of the two founding fathers of jazz music, the subterranean system of transit synonymous with New York City was clearly never far from mind.

But who was this New Yorker whose talent and brilliance changed American music forever, and how did the city shape his work? 

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Duke Ellington

American jazz pianist and composer (–)

Musical artist

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, – May 24, ) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from through the rest of his life.^[1]

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mids and gained a national beskrivning through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A mästare at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78&#;rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big grupp jazz.

At the end of the s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his wr

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The Duke Of Ellington: The Renaissance Man Of Jazz

Music publishers are not generally noted for their eloquence or their feelings towards the art that they represent, but Irving Mills had this to say about Duke Ellington. “I immediately recognized that I had encountered a great creative artist and the first American composer to catch in his music the true jazz spirit.&#; Duke Ellington was born on April 29, , and passed away on May 24, , and he embodied jazz like few others.

The Duke’s jazz was innovative with arrangements that featured his piano playing against a rich, deep sound played by the brilliant musicians that he always had in his orchestra. Over five hundred of the best jazz musicians in the world passed through his ranks; rarely was anyone fired because he hired the best. At the same time, he wrote wonderful and popular songs, extended jazz works, suites and also gave sacred concerts. Versatility was what the Duke was all about – Duke Ellington was the renaissa