Even though I’ve been writing about Duke Ellington all week, I know that I’ve only scratched the very top surface on the significance and importance of Duke Ellington to American music. And though Ellington is widely known as one of the giants of jazz, he always said that music he played was American music.
Duke Ellington had it all. In addition to his gifts as a songwriter, he was a terrific pianist and bandleader. He was also a very good businessman; he kept his orchestra going without a break for over fifty years, always making payroll. Considering the challenges of the Great Depression and the changing (and sometimes fickle) tastes of the public, keeping it going all those years was quite an accomplishment.
As a songwriter, Ellington, along with Strayhorn, is responsible for many of the great songs in the American Songbook. Look at these songs and records inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame:
- “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)”
- “Cocktails for Two”
- Ellington at Newport
- “Dimenuendo and Crescendo in Blue”
- Far East Suite
- Black, Brown and Beige
- “Black and Tan Fantasy”
- “Take The A Train”
- “Mood Indigo”
And those are only the tip of iceberg — add on Sophisticated Lady, (In My) Solitude, Caravan, Prelude to a Kiss and many more songs that we have been singing for generations and will sing for generations to come.
But we can not ignore his contributions to classical music as well. His long form pieces showcased not only his sophistication as songwriter, but displayed a solid understanding of the classical form. The English composer Percy Grainger said “the three greatest composers who ever lived are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington.”
Duke Ellington wrote his first song nearly one hundred years ago, at the age of 15, while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Cafe in Washington, DC. We have been singing, dancing to and listening to his music for nearly a century and I have no doubt that we will be doing the same in the next century and centuries to follow as well.
We leave you today with one of very favorite Ellington instrumental recordings: Ellington and John Coltrane In A Sentimental Mood.