Thursday, July 30, 2009

Public Arts: Ellington “wrote serious pieces, suites and concertos including, 'Black, Brown, and Beige.'"


[Top: Ellington: Four Symphonic Works (Black, Brown and Beige; Three Black Kings; New World a-Comin'; Harlem); American Composers Orchestra; Maurice Peress, conductor; Nimbus 2511 (2008).
Bottom: Black, Brown and Beige: A Duke Ellington Tone Parallel to the American Negro, as played by the Composer and his Famous Orchestra at his Carnegie Hall concerts; RCA Victor DC 39 (1944)]

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was an African American composer, pianist and bandleader who wrote both jazz and classical music. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com.
PublicBroadcasting.net
Public Arts
“From Duke Ellington to Artie Shaw: 'Songwriting Bandleaders' of the 1930s
Innovative, far-reaching, elegant, urbane — are all words used to describe Duke Ellington. Ellington is widely recognized as the most important composer of early 20th century jazz. His long list of compositions include jazz standards like, 'Mood Indigo,' 'It Don't Mean a Thing' and 'Sophisticated Lady.' He wrote serious pieces, suites and concertos including, 'Black, Brown, and Beige.' And he was the first black composer commissioned to write the sound track for a major motion picture — Anatomy of a Murder in 1959. Becky Kilgore performs a trio of Ellington's lesser known pieces, including his 1946 composition, 'I Didn't Know About You.'" “Text based on script by Margaret Pick Copyright 2009 Riverwalk Jazz.”






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