"Take the ""A"" Train ""Take the 'A' Train"" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). When ASCAP raised its licensing fees for broadcast use, many ASCAP members, including Ellington, could no longer play their compositions over radio, as most music was played live on radio at the time. Ellington turned to Billy Strayhorn and son Mercer Ellington, who were registered with ASCAP"
"Sir Duke ""Sir Duke"" is a song composed and performed by Stevie Wonder, from his 1976 album ""Songs in the Key of Life"". Released as a single in 1977, the track topped the U.S. ""Billboard"" Hot 100 and Black Singles charts, and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart, his joint biggest hit there at the time. ""Billboard"" ranked it as the No. 18 song of 1977. The song was written in tribute to Duke Ellington, the influential jazz legend who had died in 1974. The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald."
"""Someday You'll Want Me to Want You"", ""Swing Is the Thing"", ""Long About Midnight"", ""Organ Grinder's Swing"", and ""The Song is Ended"". They honored Duke Ellington with a swing version of his ""Caravan,"" and then produced a series of classic recordings; ""South of the Border"", which they performed in a tour of South America, along with ""Ain't Misbehavin'"", ""It Don't Mean a Thing"", ""Jeepers Creepers"", ""Three Little Fishies"", and ""Basin Street Blues"". During this era, there was also a brief time when the group performed with a non‑family singer. Gene Smith served as a stand-in for one year when Harry"
"by Duke Ellington. In Nemo's historical collection are original photographs which he took at the Cotton Club, plus Cotton Club memorabilia and a 1939 telegram from Ellington to Nemo, written in jive talk. In 1941, Nemo formed his own 19-piece band. The group featured four Chinese women as singers. Playing on his nickname, ""The Neme,"" the band's slogan was ""Hit the Beam With the Neme."" Nemo's first hit composition was ""I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart"". He also composed the song standards ""Don't Take Your Love From Me"" and ""'Tis Autumn"", both published in 1941. He also"
"three-minute masterpieces on 78 rpm record sides continued to flow from Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's son Mercer Ellington, and members of the Orchestra. ""Cotton Tail"", ""Main Stem"", ""Harlem Air Shaft"", ""Jack the Bear"", and dozens of others date from this period. Strayhorn's ""Take the ""A"" Train"" a hit in 1941, became the band's theme, replacing ""East St. Louis Toodle-Oo"". Ellington and his associates wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity. Mary Lou Williams, working as a staff arranger, would briefly join Ellington a few years later. Ellington's long-term aim though was to extend the jazz form"
"him, but not in the mercenary way that others had taken advantage of Ellington; instead, he used Strayhorn to complete his thoughts, while giving Strayhorn the freedom to write on his own and enjoy at least some of the credit he deserved. Though Duke Ellington took credit for much of Strayhorn's work, he did not maliciously drown out his partner. Ellington would make jokes onstage like, ""Strayhorn does a lot of the work but I get to take the bows!"" Strayhorn composed the band's best known theme, ""Take the 'A' Train"", and a number of other pieces that became part"
"Ellington piece, ""Echoes of the Jungle"". For him, Duke Ellington wrote <nowiki>""</nowiki>Concerto for Cootie,<nowiki>""</nowiki> which when lyrics were added became ""Do Nothing till You Hear from Me"". He was also the soloist in other major Ellington compositions like <nowiki>""</nowiki>Echoes of Harlem<nowiki>""</nowiki>, ""Harlem Air Shaft"", and the religious piece <nowiki>""</nowiki>The Shepherd Who Watches Over the Night Flock,<nowiki>""</nowiki> which was dedicated to the Rev. John Gensel. In 1940 he joined Benny Goodman's orchestra, a highly publicized move that caused quite a stir at the time (commemorated by Raymond Scott with the song ""When Cootie Left the Duke""), then in 1941 formed his"
"Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy ""Duke"" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than fifty years. Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s onward and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s, his orchestra toured in Europe. Although widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase ""beyond category"" as a"
"the show. The show lead in with the theme ""Things Ain't What They Used To Be""(played by a Duke Ellington small band with Johnny Hodges on the tenor sax) and closed with ""Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay"" (Played by Bob Scobey's Frisco Band). He would showcase a particular performer and trace that performer's development throughout his show. At various times, Harley used the ""Tishomingo Blues"" going to commercials or breaks. Top jazz musicians when they played around Washington D.C. or Baltimore would show up on his show and the performer and Harley would reminisce about old times. Harley has the"
"""You are very beautiful, very sweet and we do love you madly."" With that, the historic show concluded. Columbia Records recorded the concert and an album soon followed. Duke appeared soon after on the cover of ""Time"", and his resurgent popularity lasted throughout the rest of his life. Some of his most critically acclaimed albums occurred during the next decade and a half, until age and illness began to claim some of Duke's band members and, in 1974, Ellington himself. In 1996, a tape discovered in the Voice of America's archive of its radio broadcasts revealed that the 1956 album"
"Duke Ellington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have qualitative or historical significance. Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy ""Duke"" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than fifty years. Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s onward and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances"
"the lyrics, Ivie Anderson sang the vocal and trombonist Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges played the instrumental solos. The song became famous, Ellington wrote, ""as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time."" Ellington credited the saying as a ""credo"" of his former trumpeter, Bubber Miley, who was dying of tuberculosis at the time; Miley died the year that the song was released. The Ellington band played the song continually over the years and recorded it numerous times, most often with trumpeter Ray Nance as vocalist. Ellington's 1932 recording of the song was"
"part of its suggested ""Core Collection,"" and awards it a four-star rating. All compositions by Duke Ellington. New Orleans Suite New Orleans Suite is the eighth studio album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970. The album features the final recordings of longtime Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died between the album's two recording sessions. The album won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. The suite was commissioned by George Wein for the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival. In his review for ""Sounds"","
"C Jam Blues ""C Jam Blues"""" is a jazz standard composed in 1942 by Duke Ellington and performed by countless other musicians, such as Dave Grusin, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson, and Charles Mingus. As the title suggests, the piece follows a twelve-bar blues form in the key of C major. The song is well known for being extremely easy to play, with the entire melody featuring only two notes: G and C. The piece typically features several improvised solos. The final solo continues in the upper register as the entire ensemble comes in and the music grows to a climax."
"A Tribute to Duke A Tribute to Duke is a 1977 studio album by various artists, recorded in homage to bandleader and composer Duke Ellington. The Allmusic review by JT Griffith awarded the album 3 stars stating ""This short, nine-track tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington packs more swing into its 36-minute length than you'd expect. The disc features guest performances from Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, and Woody Herman...The instrumental ""Main Stem"" is a rollicking number that sadly fades out after five minutes. Crosby's ""Don't Get Around Much Anymore"" features some of his more adventurous vocalizations... A Tribute"
"for sheer listening pleasure, it is by no means required listening and will most likely appeal to die-hard Ellington completists"". Ellington '66 Ellington '66 is an album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington that was recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1965. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group or Soloist with Large Group. The Allmusic review by Matt Collar awarded the album 3½ stars and stated """"Ellington '66"" is yet another example of how the change in popular music toward an all rock & roll format found jazz"
"1959 and 1971-72, few of the themes (outside of ""The Single Petal of a Rose"" from ""The Queen's Suite"") are all that memorable. But even lesser Ellington is of great interest and veteran collectors may want to pick this up"". All compositions by Duke Ellington except where noted. The Ellington Suites The Ellington Suites is an album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington which collects three suites recorded in 1959, 1971, and 1972 released on the Pablo label in 1976. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1976. Ellington wrote"
"Harlem Air Shaft Harlem Air Shaft is a piece of music composed by American jazz composer and musician Duke Ellington, first recorded for RCA Victor and released in 1940. Featured in 38 recordings since, it was a popular piece in both Ellington’s repertoire and among jazz trombonists such as Clark Terry. It is generally considered programmatic by some composers and scholars, acting as a narration of everyday noises heard in 1930’s New York City. Ellington composed ""Harlem Air Shaft"" in 1940, during a time of relative creative freedom afforded by his contract with Victor. As Ellington noted in a 1944"
"Duke Ellington, ""Duke Ellington ... We Love You Madly"", as key in their decision to record this album. In early 1995 Keith Howland, who had been a studio musician and stage hand based in Los Angeles, was recruited as Chicago's new permanent guitarist. In 1998, Chicago released """" and a live album in 1999, """". In 2000, the band licensed their entire recorded output to Rhino Records, after having recorded it at Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records. In 2002, Rhino released a two-disc compilation, """", which spanned the band's career. The compilation made the Top 40 and sold over"
"Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G. Swinging Suites by Edward E. & Edward G. (also known as ""Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday"") is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1960 featuring a jazz interpretation of ""Peer Gynt"" by Grieg and Ellington's tribute to John Steinbeck's ""Sweet Thursday"", co-written by Billy Strayhorn. The album was rereleased on CD as ""Three Suites"" along with Ellington's reworking of Tchaikovsky's ""The Nutcracker"" in 1990. The Allmusic review awarded the album 4½ stars. In the 1960s, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music made a"
"The Ellington Suites The Ellington Suites is an album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington which collects three suites recorded in 1959, 1971, and 1972 released on the Pablo label in 1976. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band in 1976. Ellington wrote ""The Queen's Suite"" for Queen Elizabeth II who was presented with a single pressing of the recording, which was not commercially issued during Ellington's lifetime. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and states ""Although there are some good moments from Ellington's orchestras of"
"Black Beauty (1928 song) Black Beauty is a 1928 jazz composition by Duke Ellington. According to Ellington scholar A.H. Lawrence, the composition started out as a solo piano piece titled ""Firewater"" that Ellington played at the Cotton Club at the end of intermissions, as his band members returned to the stage. After he orchestrated and recorded the tune, he decided the title did not suit the work. He renamed the piece ""Black Beauty"" and dedicated it to singer, dancer, and comedian Florence Mills, who had died the previous year. It became one of Ellington's signature songs. Ellington first recorded it"
"New Orleans Suite New Orleans Suite is the eighth studio album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Atlantic label in 1970. The album features the final recordings of longtime Ellington saxophonist Johnny Hodges, who died between the album's two recording sessions. The album won a Grammy Award in 1971 for Best Jazz Performance by a Big Band. The suite was commissioned by George Wein for the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival. In his review for ""Sounds"", Jack Hutton remarked that ""a Creole influence permeates the work, a lazy Delta feel laden with nostalgic"
"in March of 1928 with his orchestra--initially for the Brunswick label under the name ""The Washingtonians"", and then again a week later for the Victor label under the name ""Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra"". Sixth months later, Ellington recorded a solo piano version for the OKeh label. Ellington recorded the song in the studio on several later occasions, the last being a small group version made for the Columbia label in 1960. Ellington's solo piano recording has a bluesy, somber sound, a contrast to Fats Waller's tune ""Bye, Bye Florence"" (recorded by Waller in November 1927). Ellington's original"
"Such Sweet Thunder Such Sweet Thunder is a Duke Ellington album, released in 1957. The record is a twelve part suite based on the work of William Shakespeare. In August 1956, Duke Ellington and his orchestra were in Canada, performing in the same city as the ongoing Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Curious, Ellington and his longtime composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn talked to festival staffers, and Ellington soon announced his next album project would be a conceptual piece, paying tribute to Shakespeare's varied works with appropriate jazz compositions. In addition to the ""Such Sweet Thunder"" album, he promised the entire suite would be"
"days, Eric and Ernie sang and danced at the end of each show, although they were forced to abandon this practice when Morecambe's heart condition prevented him from dancing. The solution was that Eric would walk across the stage with coat and bag, ostensibly to wait for his bus, while Ernie danced by himself. Their peculiar skipping dance, devised by their BBC producer John Ammonds, was a modified form of a dance used by Groucho Marx. Their signature tune was ""Bring Me Sunshine"". They either sang this at the end of each show or it was used as a theme"
"The Symphonic Ellington The Symphonic Ellington is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1963. The album features recordings of Ellington's orchestra with the Paris Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and the La Scala Symphony Orchestra. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and stated ""With most of his all-star soloists heard from in this program and a complete avoidance of trying to make his music sound so-called ""respectable"" or self-consciously third stream, Ellington's arrangements keep the strings from weighing"
"Duke"". Ellington's first period at the Cotton Club concluded in 1931. Ellington led the orchestra by conducting from the keyboard using piano cues and visual gestures; very rarely did he conduct using a baton. By 1932 his orchestra consisted of six brass instruments, four reeds, and a four-man rhythm section. As a bandleader, Ellington was not a strict disciplinarian; he maintained control of his orchestra with a combination of charm, humor, flattery and astute psychology. A complex, private person, he revealed his feelings to only his closest intimates and effectively used his public persona to deflect attention away from himself."
"The Duke at Tanglewood The Duke at Tanglewood is a live album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington fronting the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler which was recorded at Tanglewood and released on RCA Victor's classical Red Seal label. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated: ""Ellington's piano is fine throughout this LP but unfortunately the arrangements were written by Richard Hayman and are hilariously overblown and pompous; ""Caravan"" is an unintentional scream. Those Ellington collectors without a strong sense of humor are obliged to skip this odd greatest-hits performance"". All compositions by Duke Ellington except"
"took over as bandleader. After a fire, the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the Kentucky Club). Ellington made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including ""Choo Choo"". In 1925, Ellington contributed four songs to ""Chocolate Kiddies"" starring Lottie Gee and Adelaide Hall, an all-African-American revue which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra grew to a group of ten players; they developed their own sound by displaying the non-traditional expression of Ellington's arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls"
"piano playing perfected by James P. Johnson in the mid-twenties, a style called stride. Widely known for his prodigious musical sense, Ellington's composing career began at the age of 14. He would go on to compose a tremendous variety of music, be captured on thousands of recordings, and perform for nearly five decades. As indicated by the implicated esteem of his nickname ""Duke,"" Ellington possessed a renowned stage presence, highly regarded for his smoothness and wit. However, Ellington was more than a showman, and his reputation as a prodigious musician was not undeserved. One example of his particularly ingenious composition"
"of the band's repertoire. In some cases Strayhorn received attribution for his work such as ""Lotus Blossom"", ""Chelsea Bridge"", and ""Rain Check"", while others, such as ""Day Dream"" and ""Something to Live For"", were listed as collaborations with Ellington or, in the case of ""Satin Doll"" and ""Sugar Hill Penthouse"", were credited to Ellington alone. Strayhorn also arranged many of Ellington's band-within-band recordings and provided harmonic clarity, taste, and polish to Duke's compositions. On the other hand, Ellington gave Strayhorn full credit as his collaborator on later, larger works such as ""Such Sweet Thunder"", ""A Drum Is a Woman"", ""The"
"remember that it came down from Harlem"". Entrance was expensive for customers, so the performers were well-compensated. Shows at the Cotton Club were musical revues, and several were called ""Cotton Club Parade"" followed by the year. The revues featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as a house band. These revues helped launch the careers of many artists, including Fletcher Henderson, who led the Cotton Club's first house band in 1923. Duke Ellington's orchestra was the house band from December 4, 1927 until June 30, 1931. The first revue that Ellington's orchestra performed was called ""Rhythmania"" and featured"