Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington was born April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C. His family always encouraged his interests in arts and he began studying piano at age seven. During high-school years he was awarded but he did not accept a scholarship to Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York. At age 17 he started to perform professionally, inspired by ragtime performers. He started playing in Broadway nightclubs, then led a sextet which grew into a 10-piece ensemble. Performers such as Bubber Miley or Joe Nanton influenced Ellington's early "jungle style". Many years of playing at the Cotton Club in Harlem stimulated Ellington to enlarge his band to 14 musicians, each one individually chosen and several member were themselves important jazz artists. A high point in Ellington's career came in 1940 when he composed several masterpieces such as "Concerto for Cootie", "Cotton Tail", "Ko-Ko", "Main Stem" or "Harlem Air Shaft". By then Billy Strayhorn became Ellington's composing-arranging partner. It was him who composed what would become the band's theme song "Take the 'A' Train".

A number of the band's hits were introduced by Ivy Anderson, who was the band's female vocalist in the 1930s.

Ellington always charmed audience with his suave humour. His career spanned more than half a century which is most of the documented history of jazz. He was the greatest jazz composer and bandleader, composed thousands of scores and created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds n all of Western music.

He continued to lead the band until shortly before his dead on May 24, 1974 in New York.