DUKE ELLINGTON is one of the most important figures in twentieth-century music. Acclaimed by Stravinsky as "one of the greatest living composers", his music defied conventional categories and was acclaimed inside and outside jazz.

Stuart Nicholson's innovative approach to biography aims to rediscover a man, not simply laud an icon. A Portrait of Duke Ellington pieces together Ellington's eventful life through first-hand reminiscences of those who knew him best - dramatic, often emotional, accounts which build a vivid yet intimate impression of a legend. There is no narrative text other than an assembly of reminiscences.

This atmospheric account provides insight into his creative process, his voracious appetite for sex and his obsession with religion.

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