Duke Ellington Essay Research Paper Duke EllingtonDuke

Duke Ellington Essay, Research Paper

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington’s pre-eminence in jazz is not only because of the very high aesthetic standard of his output and not simply due to his remarkable abilities as a pianist, composer and bandleader, but also to the fact that he has extended the boundaries of jazz more than any other musician, without abandoning the true essence of the music. Perhaps no other American musician left such a massive and challenging legacy in composition and performance.

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1899, to parents James Edward and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. Duke, even as a teenager, had a great talent for music. His school music teacher, Mrs. Clinkscales, who played the piano, was always the inspiration for him to just sit down and start tinkering around with a few notes that usually became big hits. In the beginning of his musical life, Duke began to take a promising interest in a new type of music that would later be called jazz. Choosing to base his career on a new idea may not have been smart, but Duke took this chance and in turn became one of the most famous musicians in America. In our nation’s capital city, Ellington sneaked into Washington burlesque halls finding ragtime musicians, including James P. Johnson, and hearing the rhythms of people from all walks of life. He later returned in earnest to his piano studies and at age fourteen wrote his first composition, “Soda Fountain Rag” aka “Poodle Dog Rag.” Awarded an art scholarship by Pratt Institute, Ellington used his painting skills to make signs advertising his and other bands’ appearances. At the age of seventeen, he decided to pursue the lucrative music business and around this time earned the sobriquet “Duke” for his sartorial splendor and regal air.

Duke’s first job was at a government office. He was a clerk who received minimum wage and was barely getting by. He would arrange dance bands for weddings and parties for extra money. He put his knowledge of piano playing to use and played at a few of the dance parties and weddings. After employing his artistic talent in painting posters, Duke then decided to put together his own band.

This new music, known as jazz, was considered to be low and vulgar because it was music that grew directly out of the Black culture. In the early years of Duke’s career, segregation was at one of its all time worst points in history. In time, jazz became a universally recognized form of art, and has been said that it is the only real form that has originated from the American soul.

Duke, himself, was an elegant man. When the white people looked down on the black man and his music, Duke managed to bring dignity to every one of his performances. Once, the jazz historian Leonard Feather described Duke as, “an inch over six feet tall, sturdily built, he had an innate grandeur that would have enabled him to step with unquenched dignity out of a mud puddle.” Duke’s private life was something of an enigma. Although he had many friends, he never really told them everything about himself. He would often guard his privacy, probably because he had so little of it. When he was alone though, he would almost always be arranging the next tune for the band to play, and was always preparing something for the band to do in the next performance. Duke attracted some of the greatest musicians to join his band. Because of this, it has been said that many of Duke’s pieces are almost impossible to exactly duplicate without the personal style of the original musicians.

The 1920’s became known as “the Jazz Age” because jazz had hit its first great burst of popularity. At that time Duke then added a young drummer named Sonny Greer. A few years after Greer was hired, Duke’s band hit a very rough spot. They were often stuck in the street with no money and nowhere to go. Duke and his band often were stuck doing crude recordings just for a few dollars to buy a meal. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with “Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)” released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue, which introduced European audiences to black-American styles and performers. In the autumn of 1927, luck had crossed paths with Duke again. The manager of Duke’s band, Irving Mills, had heard that the prestigious Cotton Club was looking for a new band, and immediately Irving began campaigning for Duke. Duke and his band opened on December 4, 1927 to meet a mad rush of spectators who eagerly waited to hear Dukes newest pieces. The band became very prosperous and had their own spot on the Cotton Club floor with special lighting and accommodations. The orchestra, now a ten piece conglomeration, developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicing of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and featured the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealed trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. With the success of compositions like “Mood Indigo,” an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band’s reputation soared. While Duke’s band was performing at the Cotton Club, they participated in more than sixty-four recording sessions.

When he arrived in New York in 1931, his band grew to