Duke Ellington
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 (Hodges temporarily left), 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. |
Birth and Death Data: Born April 29, 1899 (Washington, D.C.), Died May 24, 1974 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1924 - 1968
Roles Represented in DAHR: piano, composer, leader, director, arranger, songwriter, lyricist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 376-400 of 448 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brunswick | E31508 | 10-in. | 12/10/1929 | Sweet mama | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E31509 | 10-in. | 12/10/1929 | Wall Street wail | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E32209 | 10-in. | 2/21/1930 | Admiration | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E32210 | 10-in. | 2/21/1930 | Maori | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E32211 | 10-in. | 2/21/1930 | Maori | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E32212 | 10-in. | 2/21/1930 | When you’re smiling | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E32447 | 10-in. | 3/20/1930 | When you’re smiling (The whole world smiles with you) | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E32612 | 10-in. | 4/22/1930 | Double check stomp | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E32614 | 10-in. | 4/22/1930 | Cotton Club stomp | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E33354 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | I’ll be a friend with pleasure | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E33356 | 10-in. | 7/24/1930 | [Unknown title(s)] | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E34928 | 10-in. | 10/17/1930 | Mood indigo | Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E35035 | 10-in. | 10/27/1930 | Home again blues | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E35036 | 10-in. | 10/27/1930 | Wang wang blues | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal duet | leader | |
Brunswick | E35537 | 10-in. | Dec. 1930 | I’m so in love with you | Brunswick Studio Orchestra | Orchestra | songwriter | |
Brunswick | E35756 | 10-in. | 12/16/1930 | I’m so in love with you | Mills Music Makers | Jazz/dance band, with vocal trio | songwriter | |
Brunswick | E35800 | 10-in. | 1/14/1931 | Rockin’ chair | Earl Jackson and his Musical Champions [Duke Ellington Orchestra] | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | leader | |
Brunswick | E35801 | 10-in. | 1/14/1931 | Rockin’ in rhythm | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | songwriter, leader | |
Brunswick | E35802 | 10-in. | 1/14/1931 | Twelfth Street rag | Jungle Band | Jazz/dance band | leader | |
Brunswick | E35939 | 10-in. | 1/20/1931 | Creole rhapsody (Part 1) | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E35940 | 10-in. | 1/20/1931 | Creole rhapsody (Part 2) | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | E4108-E4109 | 10-in. | 11/29/1926 | A night in Harlem | Duke Ellington ; Kentucky Club Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano, composer, leader | |
Brunswick | E4110-E4111 | 10-in. | 11/29/1926 | East St. Louis toodle-o | Duke Ellington ; Kentucky Club Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano, leader, composer | |
Brunswick | E4112-E4113 | 10-in. | 11/29/1926 | Who is she? | Duke Ellington ; Kentucky Club Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano, leader, composer | |
Brunswick | E4114-E4115 | 10-in. | 11/29/1926 | Birmingham breakdown | Duke Ellington ; Kentucky Club Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | instrumentalist, piano, leader, composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Ellington, Duke," accessed September 19, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102155.
Ellington, Duke. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/102155.
"Ellington, Duke." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Duke Ellington
Discogs: Duke Ellington
Allmusic: Duke Ellington
Apple Music: Duke Ellington
Grove: Duke Ellington
RILM: Duke Ellington
RISM: Duke Ellington
IMDb: Duke Ellington
Britannica: Duke Ellington
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50080187
Wikidata: Duke Ellington - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4030
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/66651610
MusicBrainz: Duke Ellington - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/3af06bc4-68ad-4cae-bb7a-7eeeb45e411f
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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