What was the first name of jazz musician Duke Ellington?
"recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in several films, scored several, and composed a handful of stage musicals. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and charisma, Ellington elevated jazz to an art form. His reputation continued to rise after he died, and he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999. Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D.C. Both his parents were pianists. Daisy primarily played parlor songs and James preferred"
"Duke Ellington With Dizzy Gillespie With Barry Harris With Roy Haynes With Roland Kirk With Gary McFarland With Carmen McRae With Gerry Mulligan With Jerome Richardson With Sonny Stitt With Clark Terry With Sarah Vaughan With Mal Waldron With Kai Winding Joe Benjamin Joseph Rupert Benjamin (November 4, 1919 – January 26, 1974) was an American jazz bassist. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Benjamin played with numerous high-profile jazz musicians in a variety of idioms. Early in his career he played in the big bands of Artie Shaw, Fletcher Henderson, Sy Oliver, and Duke Ellington. Later credits include work"
"Duke Ellington House The Duke Ellington House is a historic residence at 935 St. Nicholas Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City. Apartment 4A in this apartment house was the home of Duke Ellington (1899-1974), the noted African American composer and jazz pianist, from 1939 through 1961. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The apartment house containing the Duke Ellington House is located in northern Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, at the southwest corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 157th Street. It is a six-story masonry structure, built in 1915 in"
"was already a well-known musician with a national reputation. It was during his period of his residency here that he wrote a number of his most important compositions, including ""Black, Brown and Beige"", his first major extended-length jazz composition for chorus and orchestra. During this period, Ellington's music and personal style had a major impact on African-American culture specifically, as well as broader cultural trends in music. Duke Ellington House The Duke Ellington House is a historic residence at 935 St. Nicholas Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City. Apartment 4A in this apartment house was the home of Duke Ellington"
"Mercer Ellington Mercer Kennedy Ellington (March 11, 1919 – February 8, 1996) was an American musician, composer, and arranger. Ellington was born in Washington, D.C. He was the only child of the composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington and his high school sweetheart Edna Thompson (d. 1967). By the age of eighteen, Ellington had written his first piece to be recorded by his father (""Pigeons and Peppers""). Ellington attended New College for the Education of Teachers at Columbia University, New York University and the Juilliard School. In 1939, 1959 and 1946 through 1949, Ellington led his own bands, many of"
"Sonny Greer William Alexander ""Sonny"" Greer (December 13, c. 1895 – March 23, 1982) was an American jazz drummer and vocalist, best known for his work with Duke Ellington. Greer was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and played with Elmer Snowden's band and the Howard Theatre's orchestra in Washington, D.C., before joining Duke Ellington, whom he met in 1919. He was Ellington's first drummer, playing with his quintet, the Washingtonians, and moving with Ellington into the Cotton Club. As a result of his job as a designer with the Leedy Drum Company of Indiana, Greer was able to build"
"Felix Grant Felix Grant (1918–1993) was a radio presenter who specialized in playing jazz music during his long career in Washington, D.C. (1945 to 1993), primarily at radio station WMAL. Recognized for his distinctive voice, sophisticated style, and personal connection to many of the twentieth century's jazz greats, he was known for his many on-air interviews of prominent jazz musicians. Felix Grant is credited as the person who introduced Brazilian music—and especially Bossa Nova—to the United States in the 1960s. Grant was responsible for discovering Duke Ellington's birthplace at 2129 Ward Place, N.W. in Washington. Although the original house had"
"Marxer have been nominated for several Grammy Awards, for both folk and children's music. Washington has been home to many jazz pioneers, including the legendary Duke Ellington, as well as singer and pianist Shirley Horn, pianist Billy Taylor, and saxophonist Frank Wess. Ellington, Taylor, and Wess each attended Dunbar High School with its prominent music program. Ellington's first group, The Washingtonians, featured drummer Sonny Greer. They left for Harlem in 1923. Jazz great Jelly Roll Morton came from New Orleans, but took up residency in Washington as a regular performer at a club called the Jungle Inn in 1935. During"
"Duke Ellington Circle. A statue of Ellington at a piano is featured at the entrance to UCLA's Schoenberg Hall. According to ""UCLA"" magazine: The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival is a nationally renowned annual competition for prestigious high school bands. Started in 1996 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the festival is named after Ellington because of the large focus that the festival places on his works. After Duke died, his son Mercer took over leadership of the orchestra, continuing until his own death in 1996. Like the Count Basie Orchestra, this ""ghost band"" continued to release"
"leaving Ellington, Jones became director of an alternative school in New York, and directed the Police Athletic League's bugle corps. He died as a result of complications from diabetes in March 2001. With Duke Ellington Herbie Jones Herbie Jones (born Herbert Robert Jones) (March 23, 1926, Miami - March 19, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter and arranger. Jones dropped out of college to move to New York, where he joined the Lucky Millinder band. In subsequent years he worked with Andy Kirk, Buddy Johnson, and Cab Calloway, and studied under Eddie Barefield. Jones spent several years"
"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"
"and in Europe with the full orchestra in 1950. After leaving Ellington's orchestra in 1950, she married Edward Wimp, and later retired to Florida. Kay Davis Katherine McDonald Wimp née Katherine McDonald stage name Kay Davis (December 5, 1920 – January 27, 2012 in Apopka, Florida) was an American jazz singer best known for her time with the orchestra of Duke Ellington. Davis was born in Evanston, Illinois and attended Evanston Township High School before she studied voice and piano at Northwestern University, where she received her bachelor's degree in 1942 and her masters in 1943. Her grandfather, William H."
"Duke Ellington Circle Duke Ellington Circle is a traffic circle located at the Northeast corner of Central Park at the foot of Fifth Avenue and of 110th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The traffic circle is named for the jazz musician Duke Ellington. Formerly named ""Frawley Circle"", the traffic circle was renamed ""Duke Ellington Circle"" in 1995. In 1997, a tall statue by sculptor Robert Graham, depicting the Muses — nine nude caryatids — supporting a grand piano and Duke Ellington on their heads was erected in the middle of the shallow amphitheater composing the circle."
"Kay Davis Katherine McDonald Wimp née Katherine McDonald stage name Kay Davis (December 5, 1920 – January 27, 2012 in Apopka, Florida) was an American jazz singer best known for her time with the orchestra of Duke Ellington. Davis was born in Evanston, Illinois and attended Evanston Township High School before she studied voice and piano at Northwestern University, where she received her bachelor's degree in 1942 and her masters in 1943. Her grandfather, William H. Twiggs, was a civic leader for whom a park in Evanston is named. In 1944 she joined Duke Ellington's orchestra, where she sang alongside"
"in the late 1970s. His son Paul Mercer Ellington took it over at a later date.) In the early 1980s, Ellington became the first conductor for a Broadway musical of his father's music, ""Sophisticated Ladies"" which ran from 1981 until 1983. Mercer's ""Digital Duke"" won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. From 1982 until early 1990s, the Duke Ellington Orchestra included Barrie Lee Hall, Rocky White, Tommy James, Gregory Charles Royal, J.J. Wiggins, Onzy Matthews, and Shelly Carrol among others. Ellington died of a heart attack on February 8, 1996 at age 76. His daughter Mercedes"
"his eclectic style, absorbing influences from various genres of jazz, popular, and classical music. According to pianist and educator Mark Eisenman, some of Peterson's best playing was as an understated accompanist to singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the ""Maharaja of the keyboard"" by Duke Ellington, but simply ""O.P."" by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, and received numerous other awards and honours. He is considered one of the greatest jazz pianists,"
"ragtime musician Claude Hopkins, Lithuanian immigrant and vaudeville performer Al Jolson and Lillian Evanti, who became the first African-American opera singer to perform in a foreign country. The most widely renowned musician from 20th century D.C. is undoubtedly Duke Ellington, a jazz pioneer. Later D.C. jazz musicians included Charlie Rouse (saxophonist, with Thelonious Monk), Billy Hart (drummer), Ira Sullivan (tenor saxophonist) and Leo Parker (bop baritone saxophonist). Ahmet Ertegun, a Turkish-born jazz fan, came to D.C. at age twelve and later went on to found Atlantic Records. Todd Duncan was a D.C.-born singer who made history by being the first"
"birth site, at the intersection of New Hampshire and M Streets, NW was named the Duke Ellington Park. Ellington's residence at 2728 Sherman Avenue, NW, during the years 1919–1922, is marked by a bronze plaque. On February 24, 2009, the United States Mint issued a coin with Duke Ellington on it, making him the first African American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin. Ellington appears on the reverse (tails) side of the District of Columbia quarter. The coin is part of the U.S. Mint's program honoring the District and the U.S. territories and celebrates Ellington's birthplace in"
"Duke Ellington"". Don George Don R. George (August 27, 1909 – 1987) was an American popular music lyricist. His songs include ""The Yellow Rose of Texas"" ""I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues"" (1937), ""I'm Beginning to See the Light"" (1944) and ""Everything but You"" (1945). George has also written lyrics for film songs. He was a personal friend and occasional lyricist of jazz composer Duke Ellington, whom he followed closely from 1943 until Ellington's death in 1974. It was with Ellington that he wrote many of hist best-known songs. George wrote a 1981 biography of Ellington titled ""Sweet Man:"
"clef to create a stirring contrapuntal line that evenly balances the stateliness of Ellington's theme"". African Flower African Flower or Little African Flower (Petite Fleur Africaine) is a composition by jazz pianist and composer Duke Ellington. He first recorded it for his 1962 LP “Money Jungle"". Ellington originally named it ""La Plus Belle Africaine"" when he composed it for the Negro Arts Festival in Dakar. He can be heard playing it at ""The English Concert"" in 1970. He recorded it with Max Roach and Charles Mingus as ""La Fleurette Africaine"". Writer Peter Lavezzoli calls it ""a masterpiece of simplicity and"
"following this he worked with John Kirby and Billy Kyle. In 1949 he began the first of several stints with Duke Ellington, who bestowed upon him the nickname ""Cadillac"". In 1951 he left Ellington's employ and moved to Paris, where he led his own bands and recorded for French labels. He returned to Ellington in 1956, and played with him again in 1969 on a tour of Europe. He died in the Netherlands in 1973. With Johnny Hodges Nelson Williams Nelson ""Cadillac"" Williams (September 26, 1917, Montgomery, Alabama – 1973, Voorburg, the Netherlands) was an American jazz trumpeter. Williams began"
"me Duke."" Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. ""President Roosevelt (Teddy) would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play"", he recalled. Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. He gained his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games. In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Café, Ellington wrote his first composition, ""Soda Fountain Rag"" (also known as the ""Poodle Dog Rag""). He created the piece by ear, as he had not yet learned to read and write"
"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"
"both short and sustained, chordal and melodic, fragments—a technique known as 'comping'. Good comping musicians were capable of many and different chord voicings, so to match the various moods the different soloists were aiming for. In the early days not all leading pianists were concerned to provide comping. Others—notably Duke Ellington, who became famous during the Harlem Renaissance at the Cotton Club—earned great esteem among band members as well as other musicians. Ellington comped enthusiastically in support of the soloist and did much to develop the technique. Jazz piano moved away from playing lead melody to providing foundation for song"
"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"
"Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin ""Duke"" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ""Allmusic"" describes him as having a ""big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record producer."" Pearson was born Columbus Calvin Pearson Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia, to Columbus Calvin and Emily Pearson. The moniker ""Duke"" was given to him by his uncle, who was a great admirer of Duke Ellington. Before he was six, his mother started giving him piano lessons. He studied the instrument until he was twelve, when he"
"orchestrated version has a more upbeat tempo, similar to his late-1920s dance hits, though later band arrangements abandoned this approach. Black Beauty has been performed many jazz musicians, with notable recordings by: 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"
"Cat Anderson William Alonzo ""Cat"" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range (more than five octaves), especially his playing in the higher registers. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Anderson lost both parents when he was four years old, and was sent to live at the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, where he learned to play trumpet. Classmates gave him the nickname ""Cat"" (which he used all his life) based on his fighting style. He toured and made his"
"but a few early jazz musicians such as Alcide Nunez preferred the C soprano clarinet, and many New Orleans jazz brass bands have used an E soprano clarinet. Swing clarinetists such as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman led successful big bands and smaller groups from the 1930s onward. Band leader Duke Ellington, active from the 1920s to the 1970s, used the clarinet as the lead instrument in his works, with several players of the instrument (Barney Bigard, Jimmy Hamilton and Russell Procope) spending a significant portion of their careers in his orchestra. Harry Carney, primarily Ellington's baritone saxophonist,"
"(up to this time), ""Jazz Goes to College"". Contemporaneously with Columbia's first release of modern jazz by a small group, which was also the Brubeck Quartet's debut on the label, was a Time Magazine cover story on the phenomenon of Brubeck's success on college campuses. The humble Dave Brubeck demurred, saying that the second Time Magazine cover story on a jazz musician (the first featured Louis Armstrong's picture) had been earned by Duke Ellington, not himself. Within two years Ellington's picture would appear on the cover of Time Magazine, following his ""wild"" success at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. Ellington"
"Brooks Kerr Chester Monson Brooks Joseph Kerr III (December 26, 1951 – April 28, 2018) was an American jazz pianist. He was perhaps best known for being bandleader of a small group featuring Sonny Greer and Russell Procope and for his knowledge of Duke Ellington's work, which he often performed. Kerr was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Chester Kerr, a notable editor who worked at Yale University Press from 1949 until 1979, and Edith Kerr (née Chilewich), an editor and writer. Kerr was born premature, and suffered from a degenerative retinal disease called retrolental fibroplasia, which made him blind"
"details of the piece’s narrative. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the piece was originally titled “Once Over Lightly“, a phrase written by Ellington on the original score. While Duke Ellington received 9 Grammy Hall of Fame awards as well as 24 total Grammy nominations, ""Harlem Air Shaft"" never received any grammy nominations or awards. While there was little said about this piece from critics at the time of its creation, many reviews can be found that have been published since Ellington’s passing that praised his ability to perfectly encapsulate the natural sounds and atmosphere of early 1900’s Harlem. Harlem"
"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."