Duke Ellington: biography, date and place of birth, personal life, interesting facts, creativity, jazz music, performance and repertoire

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The well-known jazz critic Vladimir Feiertag in his article called Duke Ellington "jazz's darling". No wonder - luck accompanied him throughout his career. Having successfully started in an era when the popularity of big swing bands reached its peak, Duke, along with his orchestra, quickly achieved success. And even after the war, when the uncomplicated dance swing faded into the shadows, Ellington not only remained afloat with his large ensemble, but also continued to be loved by the public around the world, touring and recording until the last days.

With absolute certainty, we can say that the reason for such popularity lies in the originality and at the same time the great flexibility of Duke's talent, who always knew how to catch the new in music, without lingering within the framework of traditional jazz. This biography of Duke Ellington is a summary of his extensive work, which left a huge mark not only in jazz music, but also in the world cultural heritage.

Childhood and youth

Edward Kennedy Ellington -this is the real name of the musician - he was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington. His father, James Edward Ellington, served at one time as a butler in the White House, and in general the family in which the boy grew up was prosperous and led a much more relaxed life relative to the conditions in which most famous jazz figures of that time grew up. Ellington had a happy childhood - he was brought up surrounded by care and parental love.

His mother played the piano well and from an early age began to teach her son the basics of this art. He was making great progress, and he was hired by an already experienced music teacher. At the age of eleven, Ellington begins to write his own compositions, the first known to us is the ragtime Soda Fountain Rag of 1914.

At first, the young man was going to become an artist and even studied at a specialized school. However, after working for some time as a poster artist, in 1917 he came to the decision to choose music as his main occupation and therefore quit his previous job. Now the only source of income was playing in local jazz orchestras, and in parallel, Ellington, without wasting time, improved his skills with famous musicians.

Career start

Already in 1922, Ellington had his own quartet, consisting of close friends, called The Wasingtonians ("Washingtonians"). From them, he received the nickname Duke (from the English Duke - duke). In 1923, they receive a long-term engagement at the New York club Barron's, and from there they move to TheKentucky Club.

A little later - from 1924 - their first records begin to come out. Ellington, unlike some of his predecessors, recorded quite willingly.

In 1926, Ellington met Irving Mills, who after some time became his manager. It is he who proposes to expand the ensemble to ten people and turn it into a full-fledged orchestra - Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.

In 1927 they start performing at the more prestigious Cotton Club. Their performance was widely broadcast on the radio, which made the orchestra known throughout the country.

In 1931, Duke Ellington and his orchestra, without stopping recording records, went on their first concert tour. This brought him additional fame. At the same time, he managed to participate in the Broadway musical show Show Girl (summer 1929), and a year later - in the film Check and Double Check.

Corporate identity

Duke Ellington is considered to be the pioneer of such a thing as a sound orchestra. This is a unique sound that allows you to unmistakably separate one band from another. Ellington achieved this by skillfully using the individual abilities of each of the musicians of his orchestra: at different times - trumpeter Bubber Miley, Charlie Ervis, Tricky Sam Nanton, Cooty Sam Williams, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, baritone saxophonist Harry Carney and others.

The early years of Duke Ellington's orchestra and jazz of that timeassociated with the "jungle style" - these are complex arrangements and "calling card" - the sharp, loud trumpet of James Bubber Miley. Examples of this style are East St. Louis Toodle-oo, Black Beauty, Black And Tan Fantasy, Harlem Speaks and others. East St. Louis Toodle-oo is also the first song by Duke Ellington himself, released in 1926 and then re-recorded in 1927.

Another characteristic style of the Ellington band is the "mood style", largely associated with the sound of Johnny Hodges' alto saxophone. It includes Mood Indigo, which became one of the top five hits in 1931. That same year, It Don't Mean A Thing and Sophisticated Lady also appeared at number one on the charts.

It's worth noting that songs such as Sophisticated Lady and Stormy Weather, which appeared at least three years before the "swing boom", were actually ahead of their time and anticipated the emergence of this style.

World tour

In 1933, the team went abroad for the first time: it traveled around Europe with concerts, performed at the famous London Palladium Theatre, including in front of members of the royal family, with whom they were honored to talk afterwards. The next tour took place in South America, and in 1934 the orchestra toured North America as well.

In addition to touring, work did not stop recording new compositions: in the fall of 1934, his song Saddest Tale was on the first lines of the charts, the next year among the best - Merry-Go-Round, Accent Of Youth,cotton. In 1936, the hit collection is replenished with such things as Love Is Like a Cigarette and Oh Babe! Maybe Someday. In parallel, Duke Ellington also writes music for films: Many Happy Returns, the brainchild of Hollywood's A Day at the Races and Hit Parade (1937), can boast of his soundtracks.

Many compositions belonging to the orchestra were not invented personally by Ellington: he wrote some of his best pieces together with other musicians or artistically processed the ideas of his friends. Such, for example, is the fate of The Caravan jazz standard, which has already become a classic, authored by trombonist Juan Tizol.

However, not everything was cloudless in Duke's life: in 1935, his mother died, and this was a big blow for the musician. That period was marked by a crisis and prolonged stagnation in his work. It was resolved by the composition Reminiscing in Tempo, released in 1935, much calmer than his previous swing pieces, without dance rhythm and improvisation characteristic of jazz.

Music Development

The end of the 1930s turned out to be significant both for the biography of Duke Ellington and for his orchestra: the team was replenished with new people. First, in 1939, a talented pianist, composer and arranger, Billy Strayhorn, appeared. He did not play with the orchestra at concerts - Duke did this, but he did an incredible amount for the development of the band's music. Strayhorn Ellington co-wrote many hits, among which one of the most famous is Take The A Train in 1941.

This time was also marked by the arrival of tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and double bassist Jimmy Blenton. Their influence on the "sound" of the Ellington orchestra was so powerful that some began to refer to this era in the existence of the orchestra by their names.

World War II

With the outbreak of World War II, the US government issued a number of restrictions on the development of the entertainment industry: many clubs and performance venues were closed, recording musicians was banned. This greatly undermined the activity of the orchestra: not being able to actively record, Duke Ellington turns to other forms and genres. He creates great pieces of music - for example, Black, Brown and Beige, one of his longest and most serious works - and also performs a number of solo concerts at Carnegie Hall (1943).

After the end of the war, a difficult situation arose. On the one hand, the recording ban was lifted - Ellington again got the opportunity to actively create, and he immediately took advantage of this by releasing the hit I'm Beginning to See the Light, recorded together with Johnny Hodges.

On the other hand, this long stagnation proved fatal for the big swing bands: they were the epitome of dance jazz, light, entertaining music. Now singers were actively conquering the places of popular light music, and jazz was becoming a more serious and complex art, entering a new stage of development - bebop. Swing was not needed, and most swing bands broke up. Musicians also began to leave the Duke's orchestra.

Newport Festival

However, Duke Ellington's biography took a sharp turn on July 7, 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival. There, the Ellington Orchestra played the old hit Dimuendo and Crescendo in Blue, culminating in Paul Gonzales' longest saxophone solo. The musicians were given a standing ovation; Duke was back at the top of his game. Duke Ellington's photo appears on the cover of Time magazine and Columbia re-signs him.

New sound

Duke Ellington brings a lot of outside influences to his music in a new phase of creativity. For example, he makes extensive use of elements of new jazz styles such as bebop and cool in small compositions. However, much more attention is paid to works of large form. Ellington creates a number of orchestral suites, some of which are inspired by classical composers: Shakespearean Suite (1957), Nutcracker Suite (1960), Per Gynt Suite (1962), The Far East Suite (1965), New Orleans Suite (1971) and a lot others. At the same time, he continues to write music for films: The Asph alt Jungle (1950), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Paris Blues (1961) and others can boast of his soundtracks.

Ellington also turns to completely different genres: for example, commissioned by the great Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, he writes music for the symphony orchestra, and in 1965, 1968 and 1973 he creates three concerts of sacred music.

Concert activity

Despite his writing activities, Duke Ellington continues to tour actively, mostly with his old hits. In 1958, he went on tour to Europe and after that he would spend almost the rest of his life on the road. So, in 1963 he will again go to Europe, then to the countries of the Middle and Far East, in 1964 he will visit Japan.

Duke Ellington's biography of that time is replete with a history of recordings and joint performances with many famous jazz performers: Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins (1961-1962) in 1966-67. he performed two series of concerts with Ella Fitzgerald in Europe.

In September 1971, Ellington's tour took place in the Soviet Union. He visited Leningrad, Moscow, Kyiv, Minsk and Rostov-on-Don.

Departure

Back in 1973, doctors diagnosed Duke Ellington with lung cancer. Despite him, until the last days of his life, he recorded a lot and performed with concerts, continuing to lead an active life. However, in 1974 he fell ill with pneumonia and passed away on May 24.

This prominent jazz composer is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.