Duke ellington biography pbs schedule

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Duke and his orchestra toured extensively throughout his career in the United States and abroad. In addition to his music work, Duke was a pioneering figure in the fight for civil rights. At a time when racial segregation was still widespread in America, he used his platform to advocate for equality and social justice. He often incorporated racial pride and identity themes into his music, challenging prevailing attitudes and stereotypes.

Duke ellington biography pbs schedule

For all his work, Duke received numerous awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Duke Ellington, circa Duke continued to perform and compose until his death on May 24, While Ellington's United States audience remained mainly African American in this period, the orchestra had a significant following overseas.

They were one of 13 acts on the bill and were restricted to eight short numbers; the booking lasted until June The British visit saw Ellington win praise from members of the serious music community, including composer Constant Lambert , which gave a boost to Ellington's interest in composing longer works. His longer pieces had already begun to appear.

Ellington had composed and recorded "Creole Rhapsody" as early as issued as both sides of a 12" record for Victor and both sides of a 10" record for Brunswick. A tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo", took four 10" 78rpm record sides to record in after her death in that year. Ellington and his Orchestra also appeared in the features Murder at the Vanities and Belle of the Nineties both For agent Mills, the attention was a publicity triumph, as Ellington was now internationally known.

On the band's tour through the segregated South in , they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African Americans by touring in private railcars. These provided accessible accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment while avoiding the indignities of segregated facilities. However, the competition intensified as swing bands like Benny Goodman 's began to receive widespread attention.

Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and danceability drove record sales and bookings. Jukeboxes proliferated nationwide, spreading the gospel of swing. Ellington's band could certainly swing, but their strengths were mood, nuance, and richness of composition, hence his statement "jazz is music, swing is business".

From , Ellington began to make recordings with smaller groups sextets, octets, and nonets drawn from his thenman orchestra. In , Ellington returned to the Cotton Club, which had relocated to the mid-town Theater District. In the summer of that year, his father died, and due to many expenses, Ellington's finances were tight. However, his situation improved in the following years.

Mills, though, continued to record Ellington. After only a year, his Master and Variety labels the small groups had recorded for the latter collapsed in late Mills placed Ellington back on Brunswick and those small group units on Vocalion through to Billy Strayhorn , originally hired as a lyricist, began his association with Ellington in Nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, Strayhorn soon became a vital member of the Ellington organization.

Ellington showed great fondness for Strayhorn and never failed to speak glowingly of the man and their collaborative working relationship, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine". Strayhorn, with his training in classical music, not only contributed his original lyrics and music but also arranged and polished many of Ellington's works, becoming a second Ellington or "Duke's doppelganger".

It was not uncommon for Strayhorn to fill in for Duke, whether in conducting or rehearsing the band, playing the piano, on stage and in the recording studio. Two musicians who joined Ellington at this time created a sensation in their own right, Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster. Blanton was effectively hired on the spot in late October , before Ellington was aware of his name, when he dropped in on a gig of Fate Marable in St Louis.

Terminal illness forced him to leave by late after around two years. Ben Webster's principal tenure with Ellington spanned to An ambition of his, he told his previous employer, Teddy Wilson , then leading a big band, that Ellington was the only rival he would leave Wilson for. He was the orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist and increased the size of the sax section to five for the first time.

Much influenced by Johnny Hodges, he often credited Hodges with showing him "how to play my horn". The two men sat next to each other in the orchestra. Additionally, Nance added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal. Privately made by Jack Towers and Dick Burris, these recordings were first legitimately issued in as Duke Ellington at Fargo, Live ; they are among the earliest of innumerable live performances which survive.

Nance was an occasional vocalist as well, although Herb Jeffries was the main male vocalist in this era until while Al Hibbler who replaced Jeffries in continued until Ivie Anderson left in for health reasons after 11 years, the longest term of any of Ellington's vocalists. Once more recording for Victor from , with the small groups being issued on their Bluebird label, three-minute masterpieces on 78 rpm record sides continued to flow from Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's son Mercer Ellington , and members of the orchestra.

Louis Toodle-Oo". Ellington and his associates wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices displaying tremendous creativity. The commercial recordings from this era were re-issued in the 3-CD collection, Never No Lament , in Ellington's long-term aim, though, was to extend the jazz form from that three-minute limit, of which he was an acknowledged master.

While he had composed and recorded some extended pieces before, such works now became a regular feature of Ellington's output. In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with classical music than Ellington. The first of these, Black, Brown and Beige , was dedicated to telling the story of African Americans and the place of slavery and the church in their history.

Black, Brown and Beige debuted at Carnegie Hall on January 23, , beginning an annual series of Ellington concerts at the venue over the next four years. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, none had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington's work. Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well received.

A partial exception was Jump for Joy , a full-length musical based on themes of African American identity, debuted on July 10, , at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. At one performance, Garfield insisted that Herb Jeffries, who was light-skinned, should wear makeup. Ellington objected in the interval and compared Jeffries to Al Jolson.

The change was reverted. The singer later commented that the audience must have thought he was an entirely different character in the second half of the show. Although it had sold-out performances and received positive reviews, it ran for only performances until September 29, , with a brief revival in November of that year. Its subject matter did not make it appealing to Broadway; Ellington had unfulfilled plans to take it there.

Despite this disappointment, a Broadway production of Ellington's Beggar's Holiday , his sole book musical, premiered on December 23, , under the direction of Nicholas Ray. The settlement of the first recording ban of —44, leading to an increase in royalties paid to musicians, had a severe effect on the financial viability of the big bands, including Ellington's Orchestra.

His income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized it. Although he always spent lavishly and drew a respectable income from the orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses. However, in Ellington asked Webster to leave; the saxophonist's personality made his colleagues anxious and the saxophonist was regularly in conflict with the leader.

Musicians enlisting in the military and travel restrictions made touring difficult for the big bands, and dancing became subject to a new tax, which continued for many years, affecting the choices of club owners. As the cost of hiring big bands had increased, club owners now found smaller jazz groups more cost-effective. Some of Ellington's new works, such as the wordless vocal feature "Transblucency" with Kay Davis , were not going to have a similar reach as the newly emerging stars.

Ellington continued on his own course through these tectonic shifts. While Count Basie was forced to disband his whole ensemble and work as an octet for a time, Ellington was able to tour most of Western Europe between April 6 and June 30, , with the orchestra playing 74 dates over 77 days. During the tour, according to Sonny Greer, Ellington did not perform the newer works.

However, Ellington's extended composition, Harlem , was in the process of being completed at this time. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site.

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