Duke%20Ellington

1
Duke Ellington
2
the most significant composer of the genre.

• Successfully combined innovative elements of
  jazz with the dance band format.
• Creative use of instrumental timbres,
  orchestration, and other compositional devices.
• Use of extended and/or complex forms.
• A major contributor to the repertory of jazz and
  to the jazz language.

3
As a Band Leader

• He hired players with distinctive playing styles
  and wrote tunes that featured them.
• Some of his players stayed with the band for
  decades.
• Appearances in films (Black and Tan Fantasy,
  Check and Double Check, Anatomy of a Murder).
• Distinctive musical style(s), including the
  jungle sound.

4
The Jungle Sound

• Reeds (especially clarinets) in extremes of the
  registers
• Plunger and other mutes on the brass (wah-wah
  effect)
• Use of the tom-toms and other special effects
  in the drums
• The Mooche.

5
Early Career

• Serious about music as a teenager and learned to
  play the piano, began emulating local ragtime
  pianists.
• Formed his own group Duke Ellingtons
  Serenaders and, by 1920, was making enough at
  music to support his wife (Edna) and son
  (Mercer).
• Moved to New York in 1923 with the
  Washingtonians, a group that included Sonny
  Greer, Otto Hardwick, and Artie Whetsol. He later
  added Bubber Miley, Tricky Sam Nanton, and Harry
  Carney
• Pieces such as East St. Louis Toodle-O (1926) and
  Black and Tan Fantasy (1927)

6
The Cotton Club (1927-32)

• one of New York's premier nightspots, located in
  Harlem at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue.
• Frequented by celebrities and socialites.
  Listeners nationwide could hear Ellingtons
  orchestra via broadcasts on NBC.
• The band expanded to 12 pieces 3 reeds, 3
  trumpets, 2 trombones, piano, banjo/guitar, bass,
  and drums. Added musicians during this time
  included Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard, Cootie
  Williams, and Juan Tizol.
• Many of Ellingtons pieces were exotic in
  character, utilizing the jungle sound for which
  he was noted.
• Ellington recorded over 180 sides between late
  1927 and early 1931, including The Mooche (1928)
  and Mood Indigo (1930).

7
The Swing Era

• (1943) English bandleader Jack Hylton brought the
  Ellington band overseas for performances in
  Britain, Holland, and France.
• Performances in dance halls, theaters, and clubs
  radio broadcasts recording film appearances.
• In addition to extended works such as Black,
  Brown and Beige, Ellington continued to compose
  shorter works (limited by the 3 minute format of
  the 78 RPM record) such as Harlem Air Shaft,
  Cotton Tail, and Main Stem.
• Billy Strayhorn joined Ellington as arranger,
  composer, and pianist in 1939 he remained until
  his death in 1967. Strayhorn contributed such
  works as Take the A Train.

8
1940s-50s

• On January 23, 1943, Ellington performed his
  extended work Black, Brown, and Beige at Carnegie
  Hall.
• Left the Victor record company in 1946 and, after
  a short time with the Musicraft label, signed
  with Columbia.
• Economic pressure and changes in musical
  preferences caused problems for big bands.
• Ellington continued to turn out longer works as
  well as the music for the Otto Preminger film
  Anatomy of a Murder.
• Ellington's triumphant appearance at the 1956
  Newport Jazz Festival
• The band continued to travel in the US and in
  Europe (1950, 1958, and 1959).

9
1960-74

• Ellington continued to write, record, and tour.
• Received numerous awards, prizes, and honorary
  degrees.
• Several international tours, which sometimes
  inspired new compositions (Far East Suite 1964,
  the Latin America Suite 1968, and others.
• Three Sacred Concerts between 1965 and 1973.
• He recorded with various other musicians, among
  them Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman
  Hawkins, and such younger luminaries as John
  Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach.
• His memoirs, Music is My Mistress, were published
  in 1973.
• Ellington passed away from cancer on 24 May 1974.