One of the twentieth century's greatest composers, Duke Ellington led a fascinating life. Beyond Category, the first biography to draw on the vast Ellington archives at the Smithsonian Institute, recounts the entire range of his remarkable career: his childhood in Washington D.C. and musical apprenticeship in Harlem; his long engagement at the glamorous, gangster-owned Cotton Club; the challenging years of the Depression; his tours to Europe and into America's deep South, where he helped lower racial barriers; the post-war years when television and bebop threatened to eclipse the big bands; Ellington's own triumphant comeback at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival; his collaborations with Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Hodges, Ella Fitzgerald and John Coltrane, among others; and, of course, the music itself, five decades of hits and masterpieces that constantly broke new ground.

The art of Duke Ellington was a musical expression of the African-merican experience in all its struggle, pride and glory. He composed his music as he composed his life - with flair, passion and individuality - and this book reveals the man and his artistic evolution.

JOHN EDWARD HASSE serves as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institute.

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