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Portrait of Duke Ellington at the Paramount Theater, New York City 1946
Born:April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C.
Died:May 24, 1974, New York City
Born Edward Kennedy Ellington, Duke Ellington was one of the founding fathers of jazz music. He started playing piano at the age of seven, and by the time he was 15, he was composing. A pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer, Ellington and his band played together for 50 years. Some of Ellington's most famous songs include "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Sophisticated Lady" and "In a Sentimental Mood."
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1975) made his debut at the
Cotton Club in Harlem, New York on December 4, 1927.
Duke Ellington is also a 1969 Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
The man who made "Take the 'A' Train" his signature song was none other than the musical giant Edward Kennedy Ellington, better known as Duke Ellington. Ellington (1899-1974) was born in Washington, D.C., and by the time he was 15, he was composing. For more than 50 years, Ellington and his band worked with artists such as Irving Berlin, Florenz Ziegfeld, Al Jolson, Lena Horn, Ella Fitzgerald, Max Roach, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Bing Crosby and many more.
Ellington's partnership with Billy Strayhorn is considered one of the most important in American music. Strayhorn, who joined the band in 1939, composed and co-wrote some of the most famous pieces associated with Ellington, including "Take the 'A' Train." Their partnership worked so smoothly that they were even able to write songs over the telephone. In his autobiography, "Music Is My Mistress," Ellington refers to Strayhorn as "...my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head and his in mine."
Portrait Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, New York, N.Y., ca. June 1947.
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