Duke Ellington

Arguably the greatest jazz composer of his time, Duke Ellington was a superb piano player and was crucial to the development of big-band jazz. His composing style varied greatly, but his most distinctive forms of music highlighted individual musicians and subtly portrayed exquisite moods using brilliant instrumental combinations.He was born into a middle-class family in the Washington, D.C. area, and his parents encouraged participation in the arts at an early age. Ellington began learning piano at the age of seven, and during his high school career, Ellington began to display great artistic promise. He was awarded a scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, but did not accept the award, choosing instead to begin a professional performing career.

He began his career as the leader of a sextet that played in Broadway nightclubs. Eventually, the six-man group expanded to ten members, allowing Ellington to develop his early "jungle style," which was particularly influenced by his own ensemble's individual music styles. The harsh cries of Bubby Miley's trumpet and the sonorous tones of Joe Nanton's trombone helped direct the development Ellington's distinctive style, as seen in such scores as "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" and "Black and Tan Fantasy."

His long stays at the Harlem Cotton Club prompted Ellington to expand his group once again, this time to 14 players. He chose his musicians based on their individuality, and as a result, many of his musicians became famous jazz players in their own right. One of the most notable of these artists was Johnny Hodges, whose silky-smooth ballads entranced 1930 America.

This superb group of individual artists allowed Ellington to depart from conventional ensemble scoring and develop a new style that would mix the individual sounds of his group and emphasize the contrasting tones of congruent sections. A notable example of this style was his 1930 composition, "Mood Indigo," which combined muted trumpet, unmuted trombone and low-register clarinet.

During the high-point of Ellington's career, he released several masterpieces including "Concerto for Cootie," "Cotton Tail," "Ko-Ko," "Main Stem" and "Harlem Air Shaft." However, Ellington's did not limit himself to jazz and also composed such tunes as "Sophisticated Lady," "Rocks in My Bed," "Satin Doll," "Don't Get Around Much Any More," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Solitude" and "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart." In the latter four songs, and other similar pieces, he integrated wide interval leaps as part of his trademark style.

Ellington himself was also a prominent member of the ensemble, adapting his ragtime piano style to an orchestral setting. He accompanied his players with warm harmonic sequences and especially in his later years, began adding sharper, angular melodies into his solos. A regal man, Ellington's composed manner and easy humor charmed audiences for more than half a century before his retirement shortly before his death in 1974.