Duke Ellington Essay Research Paper Duke EllingtonWhere

Duke Ellington Essay, Research Paper

Duke Ellington

Where would music be had it not been for the men that stepped before him. The Motzarts and Beethovens, who wrote the music that today is known as the classics. These men were naturals in their own right, but these people wrote their music in the 17th and 18th century. Many people don’t realize all of the changes that music had to go through between that period of music and the present day. One such musician stands alone at the top as one of the movers and innovators of the 20th century. He is Duke Ellington. Along with his band, he alone influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. Winton Marsalis said it best when he said “His music sounds like America.” (Hajdu, 72). These days you can find his name on over 1500 CS s (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz, 254). Duke’s legacy will live on for generations to come.

Duke Ellington was born Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899 in

Washington D.C (The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 330). His father at the time

was employed as a butler yet always wanted the best for Duke. At the young age of seven Ellington took up the piano, because his father had always wanted him to become an artist (330). But how was Duke to become an artist in a time when blacks weren’t given the same rights as everyone else. They went to separate schools. They were forced to the back of the bus and to use separate bathrooms. If Duke were to become someone he had much to conquer.

One thing that we do know is that Duke was always looking for attention

and dignity. There are even stories of how he would announce from the top of

the stairs in the morning that he was coming down and demand that his parents

applaud (Collier, 9). Also when his cousins would come over he would stand on the front porch as they arrived and make them curtsy in front of him (9). Of course they didn’t like that but they played along (10). From the beginning Duke

Ellington wanted to be remembered by generations to come that would be

difficult being the son of a butler and black (The New Grove Dictionary of

Jazz, 330); in a time when Negroes had many obstacles including the racism that

plagued the United States.

About ten years after he started to play piano, he made his professional

debut. It was nothing glitzy just a pub in uptown (330). Back in Ellington’s

time black performers had to enter through back doors. He was on his way, or

was he. In 1923 he experienced failure due to financial instability (330). Most

people would have given up by now but not the Duke. He kept on looking for work. His relentless perseverance paid off. In 1924 Elmer Snowden asked Duke Ellington to join his band and he accepted without question (Collier, 45). So

Duke moved north to New York and joined the Washingtonians (46). Elmer Snowden was so impressed by his natural ability, which in 1927 he handed his band over to Ellington (Collier, 72). It was the turning point in Ellington s life. He was now the leader of a headlining bank at the Cotton Club. “The Cotton Club–smack dab in the middle of Harlem-but Black people couldn’t go there. It was for whites only,” says Joe Louis (Gales, 1995). Imagine the prestige of being a Black in the midst of White people. Ellington was finally rubbing shoulders the upper class. However he was not allowed to share his talent with his own kind. His inspiration for all his wonderful compositions never were heard by them. It’s

like writing a love song for someone and not being allowed to share it. His

feelings and ideas were never expressed to the people that meant the most to him, his people (Johnson, 59). At the time his legacy was only known by the whites that went to see him perform. It wasn’t until later when Blacks began to hear the Duke’s music for the first time.

Being headlined wasn’t the only fame that the band brought Duke

Ellington. In 1930 he took the group to Hollywood to appear in the movie, check

and Double Check (The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 330). Ellington was becoming a household name. The attention and dignity that he had always strived for as a kid had finally come.

Ellington was not going to let opportunity get away from him. During

the time from 1933 to 1939 he went on a huge world tour that spanned the globe.

His tours took him from Japan, to Europe, to Africa, and Austria (330)(The New

Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 658). Often times, Ellington

supported his dreams out of his own pocket or from royalties collected from his

ever growing and equally popular songbook (Duke is Still Tops… 1). Duke

Ellington showed Black Americans today that you could be someone, if you wanted it badly enough. He was willing to put himself on the line in order to gain

respect in a time when blacks received little respect in America. DeSable

probably put it best when he said, “yet the man who was sent to the Colored

People’s Waiting Room at the same time was the toast of Paris!”(Hajdu, 72).

America was truly disregarding one of the greatest Americans there ever will be.

His legacy is part of the America t

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