Duke Ellington (US composer, pianist & jazz bandleader)

~ Person

Legal name: Edward Kennedy Ellington

Wikipedia

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz.

At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multiple extended compositions, or suites, as well as many short pieces. For a few years at the beginning of Strayhorn's involvement, Ellington's orchestra featured bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and reached a creative peak. Some years later following a low-profile period, an appearance by Ellington and his orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 led to a major revival and regular world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in and scored several films, and composed a handful of stage musicals.

Although a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, in the opinion of Gunther Schuller and Barry Kernfeld, "the most significant composer of the genre", Ellington himself embraced the phrase "beyond category", considering it a liberating principle, and referring to his music as part of the more general category of American Music. Ellington was known for his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, as well as for his eloquence and charisma. He was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.

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Discography

Album

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1940The DukeDuke Ellington2
1945One Night StandDuke Ellington1
1946Black Brown and Beige: A Duke Ellington Tone Parallel to the American NegroDuke Ellington2
1951Mercer Records Presents the Billy Strayhorn TrioBilly Strayhorn Trio with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn4
1953Piano ReflectionsDuke Ellington1
1954The Duke Plays EllingtonDuke Ellington19
1956At NewportDuke Ellington and The Buck Clayton All-Stars9
1959Side by SideDuke Ellington & Johnny Hodges49
1960Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the BluesDuke Ellington & Johnny Hodges6
1960Blues in OrbitDuke Ellington12
1960Dance Air Force Date 1960Duke Ellington1
1961First Time! The Count Meets the DukeDuke Ellington and Count Basie14
1961Piano in the ForegroundDuke Ellington9
1961Recording Together for the First TimeLouis Armstrong & Duke Ellington3
1962Money JungleDuke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach512
1963Duke Ellington Meets Coleman HawkinsDuke Ellington & Coleman Hawkins9
1963Duke Ellington & John ColtraneDuke Ellington & John Coltrane424
1963The Great ReunionLouis Armstrong & Duke Ellington3
1965Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Shaw And Their OrchestrasDuke Ellington / Fletcher Henderson / Artie Shaw1
1966Concert of Sacred MusicDuke Ellington3
1966Ella at Duke’s PlaceElla Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington2
1966Serenade to SwedenAlice Babs & Duke Ellington3
1967The Far East SuiteDuke Ellington11
1968Francis A. & Edward K.Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington4
1971New Orleans SuiteDuke Ellington6
1974Duke's Big 4Duke Ellington5
1975This One's for Blanton!Duke Ellington & Ray Brown5
1976Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin SessionDuke Ellington1
1979Unknown SessionDuke Ellington2
1982It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That SwingDuke Ellington & Teresa Brewer2
1982The Girl's Suite and The Perfume SuiteDuke Ellington2
1983Ellington: Suite from The River / Mayuzumi: Essay for String OrchestraDuke Ellington, Toshiro Mayuzumi; The Louisville Orchestra, Akira Endo2
1985Jump For JoyDuke Ellington1
1986Music by Ellington & BartókEllington, Bartók; Nigel Kennedy, Alec Dankworth1
1986Ties & TailsDuke Ellington, George Gershwin, Erich Kunzel & Rochester Pops1
1987A Broadway Extravaganza!Arlen, Ellington, Gershwin, Gilbert & Sullivan, Lloyd Webber, Romberg, Sondheim; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Luther Henderson, Paul Gemignani1
1988Echoes of HarlemDuke Ellington1
1988The Feeling of JazzDuke Ellington3
1988The Best Of The Big BandsBenny Goodman, Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Harry James, Duke Ellington & Lionel Hampton1
1989Piano ReflectionsDuke Ellington1
1989Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 YearDuke Ellington2
1989Four Symphonic Works by Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington2
1989New Mood IndigoDuke Ellington1
1989Orchestral WorksDuke Ellington with Erich Kunzel directing the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra1
1989Piano ReflectionsDuke Ellington1
1990Take the Holiday TrainDuke Ellington1
1991Up In Duke's WorkshopDuke Ellington1
1992The Intimate EllingtonDuke Ellington1
1993Jazz Tribune No.69: IndispensableDuke Ellington1
1993Still: Symphony no. 1 "Afro-American" / Ellington: Suite from "The River"William Grant Still, Duke Ellington; Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi1
1993Still: Symphony no. 2 "Song of a New Race" / Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony / Ellington: HarlemWilliam Grant Still, William Levi Dawson, Duke Ellington; Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi1
1996One O'Clock JumpDuke Ellington1
1999A Tone Parallel to HarlemDuke Ellington; Claude Bolling Big Band1
1999Reflections on DukeDuke Ellington; Jean‐Yves Thibaudet1
2000Classic EllingtonDuke Ellington arr. Luther Henderson; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle, Lena Horne1
2001Ellington: Suite from "The River" / Harlem / Solitude / Dawson: Negro Folk SymphonyDuke Ellington, William Levi Dawson; Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi1
2001CollagesDuke Ellington with The Ron Collier Orchestra1
2001CaravanDuke Ellington1
2002I Grandi Del Jazz - Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington1
2002Jazz CaravanDuke Ellington1
2002Love You MadlyDuke Ellington1
2004Jazz Moods - HotDuke Ellington2
2005Concept of FreedomAnthony Braxton (+ Duke Ellington)1
2005Rockin' in RhythmDuke Ellington1
2005The Piano PlayerDuke Ellington2
2006West Coast SwingDuke Ellington1
2008Columbia Jazz ProfilesDuke Ellington1
2012Blue Note Jazz InspirationDuke Ellington1
2013Black, Brown, and BeigeDuke Ellington; Buffalo Philharmonic, JoAnn Falletta1
2013Nutcracker SuitesПётр Ильич Чайковский, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn; Harmonie Ensemble New York, Steven Richman1
2014The Duke: Historically SpeakingDuke Ellington2
2016Manhattan Intermezzo: American and British Works for Piano and OrchestraNeil Sedaka, Keith Emerson, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin; Jeffrey Biegel, Brown University Orchestra, Paul Phillips2
2017Blues In Orbit + The Cosmic SceneDuke Ellington–1
2017Take the A TrainDuke Ellington1
2017An Intimate Piano SessionDuke Ellington1
2023Ellington In Order, Volume 4 (1932)Duke Ellington1
All Star Road Band - Volume 2Duke Ellington0
Lullaby of BirdlandDuke Ellington1

Album + Compilation

YearTitleArtistRatingReleases
1954The Music of Duke Ellington Played by Duke EllingtonDuke Ellington10
1964Daybreak ExpressDuke Ellington1
1965Jumpin’ PunkinsDuke Ellington1
1969Flaming YouthDuke Ellington1
1972Duke Ellington's Greatest HitsDuke Ellington1
1973MonologueDuke Ellington1
1973The Complete Duke Ellington Vol.1 1925-1928Duke Ellington1
1973The Complete Duke Ellington Vol.2 1928-1930Duke Ellington1
1973The Complete Duke Ellington Vol. 3 1930-1932Duke Ellington1
1974Hodge PodgeJohnny Hodges And His Orchestra Featuring Duke Ellington, Lawrence Brown & Cootie Williams2
1974October 20, 1945Duke Ellington1
1974SouvenirsDuke Ellington1
1974The Complete Duke Ellington Vol. 4: 1932Duke Ellington1
1974The Complete Duke Ellington Vol. 5: 1932-1933Duke Ellington1
1974The Jimmy Blanton YearsDuke Ellington1
1975The Complete Duke Ellington Volume 6: 1933-1936Duke Ellington1
1975The Complete Duke Ellington Vol. 7 1936-1937Duke Ellington1
1976The Complete Duke Ellington Vol. 9 1937Duke Ellington1
1977Duke Ellington 1939Duke Ellington1
1977The Complete Duke Ellington Vol.10 - 1937-1938Duke Ellington1
1977The Complete Duke Ellington Vol.11 1938Duke Ellington1
1978Duke Ellington 1940Duke Ellington1

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