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Duke Ellington
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Duke Ellington · Edward Kennedy 'Duke' Ellington grew up in Washington, where he learned James P. Johnson's Carolina Shout from a piano roll, and came to New York in 1923. From 1927 to 1931 he led the Cotton Club orchestra, which became famous through the radio. Ellington did not write for a hired orchestra but for the sound of his own musicians, such as Bubber Miley's growling trumpet and Johnny Hodges's alto saxophone. He led his orchestra for almost fifty years. He wrote more than a thousand pieces, from short numbers to suites and sacred concerts, often together with Billy Strayhorn. His performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 won him a new audience. He died in New York in 1974.
Listening
Listening tip. Pay attention to the tone colours: muted trumpets and saxophones in unusual combinations.
Black and Tan Fantasy · Duke Ellington, 1927
Mood Indigo · Duke Ellington, 1930
Ko-Ko · Duke Ellington, 1940
Main Title and Anatomy of a Murder · Duke Ellington, 1959
Paris Blues · Duke Ellington, 1961
Prelude · Duke Ellington, 1966
Creole Love Call · Duke Ellington, 1927- Take the "A" Train · Duke Ellington, 1941
- Chelsea Bridge · Duke Ellington, 1941
Discography
Studio albums
- 1940The Duke
- 1945One Night Stand
- 1946Black Brown and Beige: A Duke Ellington Tone Parallel to the American Negro
- 1951Mercer Records Presents the Billy Strayhorn Trio
- 1953Piano Reflections
- 1954The Duke
- 1956Ellington at Newport
- 1956Ellington at Newport
- 1959Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues
- 1959Side by Side
- 1960Blues in Orbit
- 1960Dance Air Force Date 1960
- 1961First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
- 1961Piano in the Foreground
- 1961Recording Together for the First Time
- 1962Money Jungle
- 1963Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
- 1963Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
- 1963The Early Duke Ellington
- 1963The Great Reunion
- 1965Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Artie Shaw and Their Orchestras
- 1966Concert of Sacred Music
- 1966Ella at Duke’s Place
- 1966Serenade to Sweden
- 1966The Duke
- 1967Francis A. & Edward K.
- 1967The Far East Suite
- 1968Duke Ellington "North Of The Border" In Canada
- 1971New Orleans Suite
- 1974Duke's Big 4
- 1975This One's for Blanton!
- 1976Duke Ellington's Jazz Violin Session
- 1979Unknown Session
- 1982It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
- 1982The Girl's Suite and The Perfume Suite
- 1983Ellington: Suite from The River / Mayuzumi: Essay for String Orchestra
- 1985Jump For Joy
- 1986Music by Ellington & Bartók
- 1986Ties & Tails
- 1987A Broadway Extravaganza!
- 1988All Star Road Band - Volume 2
- 1988Echoes of Harlem
- 1988The Feeling of Jazz
- 1989Braggin' in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
- 1989Four Symphonic Works by Duke Ellington
- 1989New Mood Indigo
- 1989Orchestral Works
- 1989Piano Reflections
- 1990Take the Holiday Train
- 1991Happy Reunion
- 1991Up In Duke's Workshop
- 1992My People
- 1992The Intimate Ellington
- 1993Jazz Tribune No.69: Indispensable
- 1993Still: Symphony no. 1 "Afro-American" / Ellington: Suite from "The River"
- 1993Still: Symphony no. 2 "Song of a New Race" / Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony / Ellington: Harlem
- 1996One O'Clock Jump
- 1999A Tone Parallel to Harlem
- 1999Reflections on Duke
- 2000Classic Ellington
- 2000Swingin' With The Duke
- 2001Caravan
- 2001Collages
- 2001Ellington: Suite from "The River" / Harlem / Solitude / Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
- 2002I Grandi Del Jazz - Duke Ellington
- 2002Jazz Caravan
- 2002Love You Madly
- 2003The Blues I Love To Sing
- 2004Classic Recordings, Vol. 5 (1938): Braggin' in Brass
- 2004Jazz Moods - Hot
- 2005Concept of Freedom
- 2005Rockin' in Rhythm
- 2005The Piano Player
- 2006West Coast Swing
- 2008Columbia Jazz Profiles
- 2012Blue Note Jazz Inspiration
- 2012My People
- 2013Battle of Swing, Vol. 1
- 2013Battle of Swing, Vol. 2
- 2013Battle Of Swing, Vol. 3
- 2013Black, Brown, and Beige
- 2013Nutcracker Suites
- 2014In Gröna Lund 1963
- 2014The Duke
- 2016Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts
- 2016Manhattan Intermezzo: American and British Works for Piano and Orchestra
- 2017An Intimate Piano Session
- 2017Blues In Orbit + The Cosmic Scene
- 2017Take the A Train
- 2018Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
- 2018Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn
- 2018Piano Duets: Great Times!
- 2018Piano Duets: Great Times!
- 2021In My Solitude: Solo Piano and Small Group Performances
- 2021In My Solitude: Solo Piano and Small Group Performances
- 2022Africa Sings
- 2023Ellington In Order, Volume 4 (1932)
- 2024Copenhagen 1958 (bonus: After Hours 1950)
- 2025American Classical Masterpieces
- ?Duke Ellington Meets Leonard Feather
- ?Lullaby of Birdland
- ?Timon of Athens
Other work
- 1927Black and Tan Fantasy
- 1930Mood Indigo
- 1940–1942The Blanton-Webster Band
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Jazz MapNL Map
- Film Music MapNL Map
- Mixtape 1: The Origins of Pop MusicNL Reader
- Mixtape 5: Jazz FestivalNL Reader
- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 4NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 1NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 2NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 3NL Reader
- After Hours: Session 4NL Reader
- Magazine: Het Cotton ClubNL Magazine
- Magazine: Rent parties en strideNL Magazine
- Magazine: Jazz as a Secret WeaponNL Magazine
Mentioned in other articles
- Swing and big band Genre
Duke Ellington led the orchestra of the Cotton Club in Harlem; the white Benny Goodman became the ‘King of Swing’.
- Stride piano Genre
Johnson was regarded as the master; his Carolina Shout was a test piece that the young Duke Ellington learned from a piano roll.
- Harlem Renaissance Genre
At the Cotton Club, Black performers played for an exclusively white audience; Duke Ellington led the house orchestra there from 1927 to 1931 and became known across the country through radio broadcasts, followed by Cab Calloway.
- Big band Genre
Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman laid the foundation in New York in the 1920s; Duke Ellington wrote for the personal sound of his own musicians.
- Vocal jazz Genre
Ella Fitzgerald combined a clear timbre with virtuosic scat and, between 1956 and 1964, recorded a series of songbooks for Verve with songs by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and others.
- South African jazz Genre
In 1962 in Zürich, Dollar Brand met Duke Ellington, who had a record of his trio made.
- Jazz in film Genre
Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn made the music for Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and Ellington plays a small role in the film himself.