Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his jazz orchestra named after him from 1924 until his death. Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer."

Ellington was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He moved to New York City in the mid-1920s and became well-known for his orchestra's performances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. He was skilled at writing short musical pieces that fit on 78 rpm records, which were three minutes long. Ellington wrote or helped write over 1,000 compositions. His work is the largest personal jazz collection ever recorded, and many of his songs are now considered jazz standards. He also recorded songs written by members of his orchestra, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan," which added a Spanish musical style to big band jazz.

In the late 1930s, Ellington began working closely with Billy Strayhorn, a composer, arranger, and pianist, for nearly 35 years. Together, they created long musical works called suites and many short pieces. During the early years of this partnership, Ellington's orchestra included bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, and the group reached a creative high point. After a period of less public attention, a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 helped revive Ellington's popularity and led to worldwide tours. He recorded music for most American record companies of his time, performed in and scored films, and wrote a few stage musicals.

Ellington was a key figure in jazz history. Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld called him "the most significant composer of the genre." Ellington preferred the phrase "beyond category" to describe his music, seeing it as a way to break free from limits. He considered his work part of a broader category called American Music. He was known for his creative use of the big band and for his clear speaking and confident personality. In 1999, he received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music.

Early life and education

Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C., to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (née Kennedy) Ellington. Both of his parents were pianists. Daisy played parlor songs, and James preferred operatic arias. The family lived with Daisy’s parents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place) NW, in D.C.’s West End neighborhood. Duke’s father was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 15, 1879, and moved to Washington, D.C., with his parents in 1886. Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1879, and was the daughter of two former American slaves. James Ellington worked as a draftsman for the United States Navy.

When Ellington was a child, his family showed pride in their African American heritage, as did many other families in D.C. During this time, African Americans in the city worked to protect their children from unfair laws called Jim Crow.

At age seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales. His mother, Daisy, surrounded him with well-mannered women to help him learn good manners and appear elegant. His childhood friends noticed that his casual attitude and stylish clothing made him look like a young nobleman, so they began calling him “Duke.” Ellington said his friend Edgar McEntee gave him the nickname because he believed Ellington needed a title to be his companion.

Although Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. He recalled that President Theodore Roosevelt sometimes watched him play on his horse. Ellington attended Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. His first job was selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games.

At age 14, Ellington went into Frank Holiday’s Poolroom without permission. Hearing the music played by the poolroom’s pianists sparked his love for the piano, and he began studying it more seriously. He listened to many pianists, including Doc Perry, Lester Dishman, Louis Brown, Turner Layton, Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Blind Johnny, Cliff Jackson, Claude Hopkins, Phil Wurd, Caroline Thornton, Luckey Roberts, Eubie Blake, Joe Rochester, and Harvey Brooks.

In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda fountain worker at the Poodle Dog Café, Ellington wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag” (also called “Poodle Dog Rag”). He created the piece by ear because he had not yet learned to read or write music. Ellington recalled playing the piece in different styles, such as one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot. Listeners did not realize it was the same song, and he became known for having his own musical style. In his autobiography, Music Is My Mistress (1973), Ellington wrote that he missed more piano lessons than he attended, thinking at the time that piano was not his strength.

Ellington continued listening to, watching, and copying ragtime pianists in Washington, D.C., as well as in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer. He sometimes heard musicians play sheet music upside down because they could not afford much of it. Henry Lee Grant, a music teacher at Dunbar High School, gave him private lessons in harmony. With help from Washington pianist and band leader Oliver “Doc” Perry, Ellington learned to read sheet music, develop a professional style, and improve his technique. He was also inspired by his first encounters with stride pianists James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. Later in New York, he took advice from Will Marion Cook, Fats Waller, and Sidney Bechet. He began playing performances in cafés and clubs around Washington, D.C. His love for music was so strong that in 1916, he turned down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Three months before graduating, he left Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art.

Career

In 1917, Ellington worked as a freelance sign painter. He began forming groups to play music at dances. In 1919, he met drummer Sonny Greer from New Jersey, who encouraged Ellington to become a professional musician. Ellington used his day job to build his music business. When a customer asked him to make a sign for a dance or party, he would ask if they had musical entertainment; if not, Ellington would offer to play for the event. He also worked as a messenger for the U.S. Navy and State departments, where he made many connections.

Ellington moved out of his parents' home and bought his own house as he became a successful pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, and in late 1917, he formed his first group, "The Duke's Serenaders" ("Colored Syncopators," as his telephone directory advertising stated). He also managed the group's bookings. His first performance was at the True Reformer's Hall, where he earned 75 cents.

Ellington played music throughout the D.C. area and in Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included childhood friend Otto Hardwick, who started playing the string bass, then the C-melody saxophone, and finally the alto saxophone; Arthur Whetsel on trumpet; Elmer Snowden on banjo; and Sonny Greer on drums. The band performed for both African-American and white audiences, which was rare in the segregated society of the time.

When Sonny Greer was invited to join the Wilbur Sweatman Orchestra in New York City, Ellington left his successful career in D.C. and moved to Harlem, becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance. New dance crazes like the Charleston and African-American musical theater, such as Eubie Blake's and Noble Sissle's Shuffle Along, emerged in Harlem. After leaving the Sweatman Orchestra, the young musicians struggled to find work in a competitive jazz scene. They played pool during the day and took whatever gigs they could find. They met stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, who introduced them to the scene and gave them money. They played at rent-house parties for income. After a few months, they returned to Washington, D.C., feeling discouraged.

In June 1923, they played a gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and another at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem. This was followed in September 1923 by a move to the Hollywood Club (at 49th and Broadway) for a four-year engagement, which gave Ellington a strong artistic foundation. He was known to play the bugle at the end of each performance. The group was initially called Elmer Snowden and His Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. They later renamed themselves The Washingtonians. Snowden left the group in early 1924, and Ellington became the bandleader. After a fire, the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often called the Kentucky Club).

In 1924, Ellington made eight records, receiving composing credit on three, including "Choo Choo." In 1925, he contributed four songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-African-American revue starring Lottie Gee and Adelaide Hall, which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra grew to ten players. They developed their own sound through Ellington's arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the unique sounds of the band members, such as trombone growls and saxophone blues licks. Soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet briefly joined the group, becoming a dominant figure. However, his unreliability led to his short-lived association with Ellington.

In October 1926, Ellington made an agreement with agent-publisher Irving Mills, giving Mills a 45% interest in Ellington's future. Mills helped promote compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, and Harold Arlen early in their careers. After recording a few acoustic sides between 1924 and 1926, Ellington's partnership with Mills allowed him to record frequently. Mills often took co-composer credit. Ellington recorded for many labels, including Brunswick, Victor, Columbia, OKeh, and others. On OKeh, his records were usually issued as The Harlem Footwarmers, while on Brunswick, they were called The Jungle Band. Other pseudonyms included Whoopee Makers and the Ten BlackBerries.

In September 1927, King Oliver declined a regular booking as the house band at Harlem's Cotton Club. The offer went to Ellington after Jimmy McHugh recommended him, and Mills arranged an audition. Ellington expanded his group from six to 11 members to meet the Cotton Club's requirements. The engagement began on December 4. The club's exclusively white and wealthy audience attended nightly. Ellington's group performed all the music for the club's revues, which included comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, and music. The musical numbers were composed by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields (later Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler), with some of Ellington's original compositions mixed in. Weekly radio broadcasts from the club gave Ellington national exposure. At the same time, he recorded songs by Fields-McHugh and Fats Waller-Andy Razaf.

Trumpeter Bubber Miley, though a short-term member, greatly influenced Ellington's sound. As an early exponent of the growl trumpet, Miley changed the group's sweet dance band sound to a hotter style, known as Jungle Style. This style is evident in his feature chorus in East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (1926). In October 1927, Ellington and his Orchestra recorded several compositions with Adelaide Hall. One song, Creole Love Call, became a worldwide hit and gave both Ellington and Hall their first hit record. Miley composed most of Creole Love Call and Black and Tan Fantasy. An alcoholic, Miley left the band before they gained wider fame. He died in 1932 at age 29 but influenced Cootie Williams

Personal life

Duke Ellington married Edna Thompson, his high school sweetheart, on July 2, 1918, when he was 19 years old. On March 11, 1919, Edna gave birth to their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington.

In the late 1920s, Ellington moved to New York City with his wife and son. However, the couple later separated permanently. According to her obituary in Jet magazine, Edna missed living in Washington, D.C., and returned there. In 1929, Ellington began a relationship with Mildred Dixon. She traveled with him, managed his music publishing company, Tempo Music, inspired songs such as "Sophisticated Lady," and helped raise his son.

In 1938, Ellington left his family (his son was 19 at the time) and moved in with Beatrice "Evie" Ellis, an employee of the Cotton Club. Their relationship was difficult, but it continued even after Ellington met Fernanda de Castro Monte in the early 1960s. Ellington supported both women for the rest of his life.

Ellington’s sister, Ruth (born 1915, died 2004), later managed Tempo Music. Ruth’s second husband was McHenry Boatwright, a bass-baritone singer. She met him when he performed at her brother’s funeral. As an adult, Mercer Ellington (born 1919, died 1996) played the trumpet and piano, led his own band, worked as his father’s business manager, and kept the Ellington band active for 20 years after Duke’s death.

Ellington was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, a fraternity, and was associated with Prince Hall Freemasonry, a branch of Freemasonry.

Death

Ellington died on May 24, 1974, because of lung cancer and pneumonia, at the age of 75. At his funeral, more than 12,000 people gathered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Ella Fitzgerald said, "It's a very sad day. A genius has passed." He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.

Legacy

Many memorials have been built to honor Duke Ellington in cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

In Washington, D.C., where Ellington was born, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts teaches students who want to work in the arts. The school offers art lessons and academic programs to help students prepare for college and careers. In 1974, the Calvert Street Bridge, built in 1935, was renamed the Duke Ellington Bridge. Another school, P.S. 004 Duke Ellington, is located in New York.

In 1989, a bronze plaque was placed on the Duke Ellington Building at 2121 Ward Place NW. In 2012, the building’s new owner hired artist Aniekan Udofia to paint a mural above the words "Duke Ellington." In 2010, a triangular park near Ellington’s birthplace at the intersection of New Hampshire and M Streets NW was named Duke Ellington Park.

A bronze plaque marks the home where Ellington lived from 1919 to 1922 at 2728 Sherman Avenue NW.

On February 24, 2009, the United States Mint released a coin featuring Ellington. He was the first African American to appear alone on a U.S. coin used in everyday transactions. Ellington is shown on the back of the District of Columbia quarter, seated at a piano with sheet music. The coin is part of a program honoring the District and U.S. territories. It also celebrates Ellington’s birthplace in Washington, D.C. The coin includes the District’s motto, "Justice for All."

In 1986, the United States issued a commemorative stamp with Ellington’s image.

Ellington spent his final years in Manhattan at a townhouse on 333 Riverside Drive near West 106th Street. His sister Ruth, who managed his publishing company, and his son Mercer also lived nearby. After Ellington’s death, West 106th Street was renamed Duke Ellington Boulevard.

A large statue of Ellington, created by sculptor Robert Graham, was placed in New York’s Central Park in 1997. The statue is near Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, an intersection named Duke Ellington Circle.

A statue of Ellington at a piano is displayed at the entrance to UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.

The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival is an annual event for high school jazz bands. It began in 1996 at Jazz at Lincoln Center and is named after Ellington because it focuses on his music.

After Duke Ellington’s death, his son Mercer took over leadership of the orchestra. Mercer continued leading until his death in 1996. Like the Count Basie Orchestra, this group released albums for many years. The album Digital Duke, credited to The Duke Ellington Orchestra, won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. Mercer managed his father’s business for decades, and his children continue to connect with their grandfather’s work.

Gunther Schuller wrote in 1989:

Martin Williams said: "Duke Ellington lived long enough to hear himself named among our best composers. Since his death in 1974, it has become common to see him named, along with Charles Ives, as the greatest composer we have produced, regardless of category."

Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe wrote in 1999: "[i]n the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington."

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Duke Ellington on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Ellington’s music has inspired artists and musicians worldwide:

• Dave Brubeck wrote "The Duke" (1954) as a tribute to Ellington. The song became a standard, covered by others, including Miles Davis on his 1957 album Miles Ahead. The album The Real Ambassadors includes a vocal version, "You Swing Baby (The Duke)," with lyrics by Iola Brubeck. It was performed as a duet by Louis Armstrong and Carmen McRae and dedicated to Ellington.
• Miles Davis created the half-hour piece "He Loved Him Madly" (on Get Up with It) as a tribute to Ellington one month after his death.
• Charles Mingus, who had been fired by Ellington decades earlier, wrote the elegy "Duke Ellington’s Sound Of Love" in 1974, shortly after Ellington’s death.
• Stevie Wonder wrote "Sir Duke" as a tribute to Ellington, which appeared on his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life.
• Judy Collins wrote and sang "Song for Duke" on her 1975 album Judith.

Hundreds of albums celebrate the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, created by both famous and lesser-known artists. The 1981 musical revue Sophisticated Ladies included many of Ellington’s songs. A second Broadway musical, Play On!, debuted in 1997 and also used Ellington’s music.

Awards and honors

• 1960, Hollywood Walk of Fame, for work in the music recording industry
• 1964, Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Milton College
• 1966, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1969, Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States
• 1971, Honorary PhD from Berklee College of Music
• 1973, Legion of Honour from France, its highest civilian honor
• 1999, posthumous Special Pulitzer Prize for contributions to music and culture

Duke Ellington received 14 Grammy awards between 1959 and 2000 (three of these were given after his death) and was nominated for a total of 25 awards.

Recordings by Duke Ellington were added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. This special award, created in 1973, honors recordings that are at least 25 years old and have important or valuable historical or artistic significance.