Duke Ellington
By Stuart Kremsky
Trying to imagine American music without Duke Ellington is a fruitless experiment. For over fifty years, he led a big band, toured, composed, and recorded non-stop, with a core of devoted musicians that collectively spent hundreds of years in his groups. His influence on both jazz and popular music, as a pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader is all-pervasive. A generation after his passing, his more than one thousand compositions and a recorded legacy of almost unbelievable proportions are enjoyed by music lovers the world over, even as they continue to inspire countless other musicians. Billy Strayhorn, who probably knew Duke better than... Read More
- City Of Origin:
- Washington, Washington D.C., United States
- Genre:
- Jazz, Big Band
- Birthdate:
- 04/29/1899
- Death date:
- 05/24/1974
