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Swing-Era Dossier

Duke Ellington

1899 – 1974

Born

April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C. Given name Edward Kennedy Ellington. Middle-class family; both parents played piano.

Died

May 24, 1974, NYC, age 75. Lung cancer and pneumonia. Famously joked at 66, after being denied a Pulitzer: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."

Instruments

Piano (primary). Also bandleader, composer, arranger. Started piano lessons at age 7 with a teacher named — really — Marietta Clinkscales.

Nicknames

  • "Duke" — given by a childhood friend in D.C. for his dandyish dress and noble bearing. Stuck so hard he formed "The Duke's Serenaders" at 17.
  • "Dumpy" — band nickname mocking his gargantuan appetite.

Bands / years

  • The Washingtonians (1923–1927) — NYC, Kentucky Club
  • Duke Ellington Orchestra (1927–1974) — Cotton Club house band 1927–1931; led the same band for ~50 years until his death
  • Sidemen who defined the sound: Bubber Miley, Tricky Sam Nanton, Johnny Hodges (1928–51, 1955–70), Harry Carney (1927–74, never left), Cootie Williams, Ben Webster, Jimmy Blanton, Paul Gonsalves, Juan Tizol, Ray Nance
  • Billy Strayhorn joined 1939 — co-composer, second self, near-30-year partnership until Strayhorn's death in 1967

Active

c. 1917–1974.

Signature tunes

"Take the 'A' Train" (band theme — Strayhorn, 1939), "Mood Indigo" (1930), "Sophisticated Lady" (1932), "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" (1931), "Caravan" (1936), "Satin Doll" (1953), "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1927), "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" (1937/1956).

Famous compositions — what he actually wrote

  • "Mood Indigo" (1930): credited Ellington/Bigard/Mills, but the main theme came from clarinetist Barney Bigard, who learned it from his New Orleans teacher Lorenzo Tio Jr. (a "Mexican Blues"). Mills bought Bigard's share for $25; Bigard saw no royalties until 1959.
  • "Sophisticated Lady" (1932): trombonist Lawrence Brown later said the A-section hook was his. Ellington paid him $15 and never credited him.
  • "Take the 'A' Train" (1939): Billy Strayhorn alone. Written from subway directions Ellington gave him to get to his Harlem apartment. Became the Ellington band's theme song — Ellington made another man's tune his calling card.
  • "Caravan" (1936): Juan Tizol's melody (Puerto Rican valve-trombonist); first recording credits Tizol alone. Ellington later added as co-composer.
  • "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (1926) & "Black and Tan Fantasy" (1927): co-written with trumpeter Bubber Miley (Miley invented the growl-and-plunger sound that defined early Ellington).
  • "Satin Doll" (1953): Ellington wrote the melodic hook, Strayhorn harmonized/arranged; Johnny Mercer added lyrics later.
  • Solo-Ellington originals: "Solitude" (1934), "In a Sentimental Mood" (1935), "Prelude to a Kiss" (1938), "Concerto for Cootie" (1940), and the suites (Black, Brown and Beige 1943, Such Sweet Thunder 1957, Far East Suite 1966, Sacred Concerts 1965–73).

Interesting facts

  • Newport 1956: Paul Gonsalves played 27 choruses of blues solo on "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue." Crowd lost its mind, Ellington landed on the cover of Time a month later. He said: "I was born at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956."
  • Pulitzer scandal, 1965: jury recommended a special citation; the board refused to give a music Pulitzer to a Black jazz composer. Two jurors resigned in protest. He was finally awarded a posthumous Pulitzer in 1999.
  • Superstitions, full slate: Friday the 13th was his lucky day. Wouldn't wear green (looked like graveyard grass). Wouldn't give or accept shoes as gifts (recipient walks away). Refused to fly until tours forced him to. Kept windows shut against drafts. Hated being in the country.
  • The appetite: once ate 32 hot dogs in one sitting. Routinely ordered two steaks, double fries, a lobster, and a layered dessert of pie + cake + ice cream + jello + cheese. Wore a corset onstage. Pocketed leftover chops in a handkerchief.
  • Married once, in 1918, to childhood neighbor Edna Thompson. She slashed his left cheek with a razor in a jealous fight; he left and never came back, but they never divorced. He supported her until her death in 1967. Most fans never knew he had a wife.
  • Son Mercer Ellington (b. 1919) eventually took over the band after his death.
  • Billy Strayhorn was openly gay in an era that made that nearly impossible; the Ellington band was his refuge. Strayhorn's last composition, "Blood Count," was written from his hospital bed and mailed to the band in May 1967.
  • Harry Carney drove Ellington from gig to gig for decades in Ellington's Cadillac. When Carney died in October 1974 — five months after Ellington — he reportedly said, "This is the end. Without Duke I have nothing to live for."
  • "Beyond category" was Ellington's own phrase — he rejected the label "jazz" as too small.
  • Quote on the source of his sound (often attributed): "My band is my instrument." The "Ellington effect" was voicing-specific to which player would play which line — he composed for people, not parts.

Sources