Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. In 1919 he met drummer Sonny Greer from New Jersey, who encouraged Ellington's ambition to become a professional musician. This account has been disabled. Following an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, in July 1956, Ellington and his orchestra enjoyed a major revival and embarked on world tours. He was American by nationality. In 1965, the three jurors of the Pulitzer Prize for Music couldnt decide on a standalone work they felt was worthy of the prize, so they presented the Pulitzer Prize Board with an alternative: that a special citation be awarded to Duke Ellington, who has made many notable contributions to American music over a period of 30 years or more with compositions of high artistic quality couched mainly in the idiom of jazz, in the words of juror and music critic Ronald Eyer. At his funeral, attended by over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion: "It's a very sad day. Duke Ellington's parents both played the piano. The settlement of the first recording ban of 194243, leading to an increase in royalties paid to musicians, had a serious effect on the financial viability of the big bands, including Ellington's Orchestra. Although widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase "beyond category" as a liberating principle and referred to his music as part of the more general category of American Music rather than to a musical genre such as jazz.[2]. Washington, District of Columbia, United States, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, New York, New York, United States, Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, Bronx, New York, United States. Ellington's residence at 2728 Sherman Avenue, NW, during the years 19191922,[75] is marked by a bronze plaque. . His compositions, and the travels of his band, exposed the world to jazz and earned him the nickname, "The Ambassador of Jazz." Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in Washington, D.C. in 1899 to Daisy and James Ellington. Ellington was noted for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and for his eloquence and charisma. Duke Ellington was an American jazz bandleader, pianist and composer. Login to find your connection. Daisy Kennedy, his mother, was the daughter of two previously enslaved Americans. Edward "Duke" Ellington was born on April 29 1899 in Washington D.C. (PBS.org). But Take the A Train ended up in the scrap pile due to Strayhorns worry that it sounded too derivative of jazz pianist Fletcher Henderson. In 2010 the triangular park, across the street from Duke Ellington's birth site, at the intersection of New Hampshire and M Streets, NW was named the Duke Ellington Park. Geni requires JavaScript! Ellington described him as a party man, a great dancer (ballroom, that is), a connoisseur of vintages, and unsurpassed in creating an aura of conviviality., Both of Ellingtons parents played the piano: His mother favored songs so pretty theyd make me cry, while his father reproduced operatic stuff by ear. Ellington's sister Ruth (19152004) later ran Tempo Music, his music publishing company. The group was initially called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. After World War II it toured Europe regularly, with excursions to South America, the Far East, and Australia. His mother's name was Daisy Kennedy Ellington and his father's name was James Edward Ellington. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Duke Ellington was an American jazz musician who composed thousands of musical scores during a career that spanned more than 50 years. "Cotton Tail", "Main Stem", "Harlem Air Shaft", "Jack the Bear", and dozens of others date from this period. There is a problem with your email/password. The revived attention brought about by the Newport appearance should not have surprised anyone, Johnny Hodges had returned the previous year, and Ellington's collaboration with Strayhorn had been renewed around the same time, under terms more amenable to the younger man. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born into the world on April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C. Duke's parents, Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington, served as ideal role models for young Duke, and taught him everything from proper table manners to an understanding of the emotional power of music. Stevie Wonder wrote the song "Sir Duke" as a tribute to Ellington which appeared on his album Songs in the Key of Life released in 1976. Both his parents were pianists. Enter a grandparent's name. Duke got buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City. There are hundreds of albums dedicated to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn by artists famous and obscure. An alcoholic, Miley had to leave the band before they gained wider fame. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. Add to your scrapbook. Make sure that the file is a photo. Born on April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C., died on May 24, 1974, New York, NY 1. He was born on April 29, 1899 at Washington, D.C, United States. They made time between performances to appear on Broadway and film a movie, and the group eventually concluded their Cotton Club run in February 1931 to go on tour. These generated controversy in what was already a tumultuous time in the United States. Duke, even as a teenager, had a great talent for music. That was Teddy Rooseveltjust him and his horse, nobody guarding him., Its often said that Ellington was nicknamed Duke because he was well-mannered and dapper in youth. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. [64], The last three shows Ellington and his orchestra performed were one on March 21, 1973 at Purdue University's Hall of Music and two on March 22, 1973 at the Sturges-Young Auditorium in Sturgis, Michigan.[65]. Like Haydn and Mozart, Ellington conducted his orchestra from the piano he always played the keyboard parts when the Sacred Concerts were performed.[63]. [21] Mills had an eye for new talent and published compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, and Harold Arlen early in their careers. Jukeboxes proliferated nationwide, spreading the gospel of swing. Ellington lived for years in a townhouse on the corner of Manhattan's Riverside Drive and West 106th Street. Hearing the music of the poolroom pianists ignited Ellington's love for the instrument, and he began to take his piano studies seriously. So he named me Duke, Ellington explained. She was a family person as she liked spending time with her grandkids, and also her siblings enjoyed spending time at her place since she was the oldest and welcoming. [38] The 1930s ended with a very successful European tour just as World War II loomed in Europe. Learn more about merges. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him to live elegantly" ( Encyclopedia.com) This was his only teacher until he began to play professionally and started to from . He created a jazz Christian liturgy. Like the Count Basie Orchestra, this "ghost band" continued to release albums for many years. "[82], In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Duke Ellington on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.[83]. Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington in Washington, D.C. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with stride pianists James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. The short-lived Jimmy Blanton transformed the use of double bass in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo/melodic instrument rather than a rhythm instrument alone. Daisy was known for primarily playing parlor-style songs while James was known for operatic arias. [36] Nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, Strayhorn soon became a vital member of the Ellington organization. A statue of Ellington at a piano is featured at the entrance to UCLA's Schoenberg Hall. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at age fourteen. He also ran his own catering business. He was a composer, pianist, and a bandleader for a sextet. Death Claims Mother of Duke, "Olivet Cemetery. He wrote "The three greatest composers who ever lived are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington. After recording a handful of acoustic titles during 192426, Ellington's signing with Mills allowed him to record prolifically, although sometimes he recorded different versions of the same tune. He skived off many a piano lesson to play, and even got hired as a snack vendor at the Washington Nationals stadium so he could watch their games. Try again. Wife of James Edward Ellington He grew up in a middle class neighborhood of Washington D.C. Announcing that the two pieces would be separated by an interlude played by tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, Ellington proceeded to lead the band through the two pieces, with Gonsalves' 27-chorus marathon solo whipping the crowd into a frenzy, leading the Maestro to play way beyond the curfew time despite urgent pleas from festival organizer George Wein to bring the program to an end. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. During Duke's long career, the new music slowly spread out of bars and saloons, to dance and night clubs and then eventually onto the concert stage. On the band's tour through the segregated South in 1934, they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African-Americans by touring in private railcars. At one point [Strayhorn] was having some sort of trouble and I pulled a piece out of the garbage. You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Snowden left the group in early 1924 and Ellington took over as bandleader. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. Ellington's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956 returned him to wider prominence and introduced him to a new generation of fans. Charles Mingus, who had been fired by Ellington decades earlier, wrote the elegy "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love" in 1974, a few months after Ellington's death. Ellington channeled the Black American experience into works like Creole Rhapsody and Black, Brown and Beigethe latter an ambitious and nearly hour-long musical chronicle of Black American history that Ellington debuted at his first Carnegie Hall concert in 1943. That swings because Duke Ellington, an American musical titan and true exemplar of artistic integrity and creative energy, was born in Washington, D. C. in 1899. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and danceability drove record sales and bookings. services. Every Sunday she took her son to two churches, the 19th Street Baptist Church, where her family worshiped, and the John Wesley. Wife: He married his girlfriend from high school at age 19. Ellington then made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including "Choo Choo". 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