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Duke Ellington  Scott
YanowFriedman/Fairfax Publishers, 1999 Hardback. 120pp. b&w illustrations £20.00 In the history of American music, Duke Ellington stands alone. During a career that spanned over half a century, he wrote more than a thousand compositions, toured the world with his orchestra ceaselessly, and became one of the most influential musicians in jazz. Hundreds of his melodies have become standards, from the haunting Mood Indigo to the playful syncopation of It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing). Now, on the centennial of his birth, Duke Ellington celebrates the life and achievements of the greatest composer, arranger, and bandleader that jazz has ever known. From his earliest days, Edward Kennedy Ellington was surrounded by music. Born in 1899 to middle-class African-American parents in Washington, D.C., he grew up listening to his mother play popular songs and ragtime on the family's piano. The many talented stride players in Washington inspired him to teach himself to play piano, and by the age of seventeen he was a regular at local cafés and a popular bandleader for dances and parties. In the early 1920s, the young Ellington - known as "Duke" because of his sophistication and charm - decided to try his luck in New York. After several years of engagements at small venues, he and his orchestra were asked to play at Harlem's famous Cotton Club, and the rest is history. His incredible success at the Cotton Club led to several film appearances and a string of hit tunes, among them The Mooche and Rockin' in Rhythm, and to tours through Europe, South America, and Asia. Despite the constant restrictions of racism and segregation, Ellington's orchestra, filled with such noted musicians as trumpeter Cootie Williams and also saxophonist Johnny Hodges, was extremely successful. With the addition of Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's co-composer and musical soulmate, the orchestra expanded its horizons and began experimenting with longer and more complex works. Constant touring and recording kept Duke Ellington and his orchestra in the public eye throughout the postwar years, but a stunning performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, highlighted by tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves' amazing twenty-seven choruses during one piece, made them headliners again. From his triumphant return to international fame in 1956 until his death in 1974, Duke Ellington was honoured the world over for his genius and his tremendous contribution to jazz music. He received many of the highest honours awarded to civilians, from the United States' Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1965 to France's Legion of Honour in 1973. Duke Ellington's legacy lives on today, in the chord voicings of most modern jazz pianists, the arranging techniques of composers, the hundreds of his songs that are still being recorded on the part of all creative jazz musicians. Duke Ellington used the phrase "beyond category" to describe his favourite artists - and no one deserves this accolade more than he. SCOTT YANOW has been writing about jazz since 1975. He is the senior editor for the All Music Guide to Jazz and is currently a regular contributor to ten music magazines, including Jazziz, Cadence, Coda, and the Mississippi Rag. |
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