African American Composer, Pianist & Bandleader Duke Ellington, Born April 29, 1899, Wrote Jazz & Classical Music

[The Definitive Duke Ellington; Sony 61444 (2000)]

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974) was an African American composer, pianist and band leader. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com. Duke Ellington was born into a middle-class family in Washington, D.C. on April 29, 1899. Although best known for composing, leading and performing about 2,000 "big band" jazz pieces, Ellington also composed orchestral, chamber and solo piano works in the classical genre. His classical music has gradually gained new listeners in recent years due to recordings on CD.

Ellington participated in the Civil Rights movement from the 1940s on. In 1941 he wrote the score for the musical Jump for Joy, a show intended to debunk common movie stereotypes of African American popular culture. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, led by Neeme Järvi, Conductor, has recorded three of Ellington's works for symphony orchestra on CDs released by the British label Chandos. Harlem, Suite from "The River" and Solitude are found on Chandos 9909 (2001). Suite from "The River" also appears on an earlier disc, Chandos 9154 (1993). Harlem is also found on Chandos 9226 (1993).

Here are just a few recent examples: On January 26, 2010 music of Duke Ellington was heard at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's "Fourth Annual 'Tribute' Concert: A Symphonic Celebration Of African American Culture." A month later, on February 26, 2010, the Harlem Opera Theater performed Ellington's unfinished opera Queenie Pie at New York City's Schomburg Center. The composer's Come Sunday was aired on radio station WABE in Atlanta on April 12, 2010 as part of the "Atlanta Music Festival." Saxophonist Dwight Andrews and pianist Gary Motley were featured in a recording of the work.