Duke Ellington(1899-1974)
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Composer ("It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing",
"Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", "Solitude", "In a Mellotone",
"Satin Doll"), pianist and conductor, holder of an honorary music
degree from Wilberforce University and an LHD from Milton College, Duke
Ellington led his own orchestra by 1918, and came to New York in 1923,
appearing at the Cotton Club between 1927 and 1932. Making his first
European tour in 1933, he followed with his annual Carnegie Hall
concerts between 1943 and 1950, and then a Middle East tour (under the
auspices of the State Department), including an appearance at the
International Fair in Damascus in 1963. His stage scores include "Jump
for Joy" and "Beggars Holiday" (Broadway). He made many records.
Joining ASCAP in 1953, his chief musical collaborators included
Billy Strayhorn, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish, Mann Curtis, Barney Bigard, Henry Nemo , Bob Russell,
Don George, Lee Gaines , Paul Francis Webster, Edgar De Lange, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol and
his own son, Mercer Ellington. His other popular song and instrumental
compositions include "Blind Man's Buff", "Creole Love Call", "Black and
Tan Fantasy", "I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart", "Rockin' in Rhythm",
"Caravan", "Pyramid", "Creole Rhapsody", "Don't Get Around Much
Anymore", "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", "I'm Beginning to See the
Light", "In a Sentimental Mood", "East St. Louis Toodle-oo",
"Birmingham Breakdown", "Black Beauty", "Flaming Youth", "Awful Sad",
"The Duke Steps Out", "Saturday Night Function", "Old Man Blues", "Ring
Dem Bells", "Drop Me Off in Harlem", "Daybreak Express", "Delta
Serenade", "Reminiscing in Tempo", "In a Jam", "Clarinet Lament",
"Echoes of Harlem", "Dusk on the Desert", "Lost in Meditation", "Blue
Reverie", "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter", "Please Forgive Me",
"Chatterbox", "Harmony in Harlem", "If You Were in My Place",
"Skronch", "Braggin' in Brass", "Blue Light", "Buffet Flat", "The Gal
from Joe's", "Subtle Lament", "Old King Dooji", "Boy Meets Horn",
"Stevedore's Serenade", "You Gave Me the Gate and I'm Swinging",
"Grievin'", "The Sergeant Was Shy", "Tootin' Through the Roof", "Rumpus
in Richmond", "Jack the Bear", "Me and You", "Flaming Sword", "Harlem
Air Shaft", "Bojangles", "Portrait of Bert Williams", "Do Nothin' Till
You Hear from Me" (Concerto for Cootie), "Kind of Moody" (Serenade to
Sweden), "Morning Glory", "Blue Goose", "Cotton Tail", "Conga Brava",
"Chocolate Shake", "Rocks in My Bed", "San Juan Hill", "Crescendo in
Blue", "Diminuendo in Blue", "Dusk", "C Jam Blues", "Main Stem", "I
Didn't Know About You", "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'", "Jazz
Convulsions", "I'm Just a Lucky So and So", "The Blues", "Come Sunday",
"Magenta Haze", "Just Squeeze Me", "Happy-Go-Lucky Local", "Takle Love
Easy", "Tomorrow Mountain", "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", "Money Jungle",
"Prelude to a Kiss", "Jump for Joy", "I'm Checking Out, Goom-Bye", "The
Mooche", "Warm Valley", "Blue Serge", "I Wish I Was Back in My Baby's
Arms", "Lament for a Lost Love", "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream",
"Afro-Bosso", "In the Beginning, God" and "Christmas
Surprise".
"Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", "Solitude", "In a Mellotone",
"Satin Doll"), pianist and conductor, holder of an honorary music
degree from Wilberforce University and an LHD from Milton College, Duke
Ellington led his own orchestra by 1918, and came to New York in 1923,
appearing at the Cotton Club between 1927 and 1932. Making his first
European tour in 1933, he followed with his annual Carnegie Hall
concerts between 1943 and 1950, and then a Middle East tour (under the
auspices of the State Department), including an appearance at the
International Fair in Damascus in 1963. His stage scores include "Jump
for Joy" and "Beggars Holiday" (Broadway). He made many records.
Joining ASCAP in 1953, his chief musical collaborators included
Billy Strayhorn, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish, Mann Curtis, Barney Bigard, Henry Nemo , Bob Russell,
Don George, Lee Gaines , Paul Francis Webster, Edgar De Lange, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol and
his own son, Mercer Ellington. His other popular song and instrumental
compositions include "Blind Man's Buff", "Creole Love Call", "Black and
Tan Fantasy", "I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart", "Rockin' in Rhythm",
"Caravan", "Pyramid", "Creole Rhapsody", "Don't Get Around Much
Anymore", "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", "I'm Beginning to See the
Light", "In a Sentimental Mood", "East St. Louis Toodle-oo",
"Birmingham Breakdown", "Black Beauty", "Flaming Youth", "Awful Sad",
"The Duke Steps Out", "Saturday Night Function", "Old Man Blues", "Ring
Dem Bells", "Drop Me Off in Harlem", "Daybreak Express", "Delta
Serenade", "Reminiscing in Tempo", "In a Jam", "Clarinet Lament",
"Echoes of Harlem", "Dusk on the Desert", "Lost in Meditation", "Blue
Reverie", "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter", "Please Forgive Me",
"Chatterbox", "Harmony in Harlem", "If You Were in My Place",
"Skronch", "Braggin' in Brass", "Blue Light", "Buffet Flat", "The Gal
from Joe's", "Subtle Lament", "Old King Dooji", "Boy Meets Horn",
"Stevedore's Serenade", "You Gave Me the Gate and I'm Swinging",
"Grievin'", "The Sergeant Was Shy", "Tootin' Through the Roof", "Rumpus
in Richmond", "Jack the Bear", "Me and You", "Flaming Sword", "Harlem
Air Shaft", "Bojangles", "Portrait of Bert Williams", "Do Nothin' Till
You Hear from Me" (Concerto for Cootie), "Kind of Moody" (Serenade to
Sweden), "Morning Glory", "Blue Goose", "Cotton Tail", "Conga Brava",
"Chocolate Shake", "Rocks in My Bed", "San Juan Hill", "Crescendo in
Blue", "Diminuendo in Blue", "Dusk", "C Jam Blues", "Main Stem", "I
Didn't Know About You", "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'", "Jazz
Convulsions", "I'm Just a Lucky So and So", "The Blues", "Come Sunday",
"Magenta Haze", "Just Squeeze Me", "Happy-Go-Lucky Local", "Takle Love
Easy", "Tomorrow Mountain", "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", "Money Jungle",
"Prelude to a Kiss", "Jump for Joy", "I'm Checking Out, Goom-Bye", "The
Mooche", "Warm Valley", "Blue Serge", "I Wish I Was Back in My Baby's
Arms", "Lament for a Lost Love", "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream",
"Afro-Bosso", "In the Beginning, God" and "Christmas
Surprise".