Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899. He was
raised by two very talented musicians that lived in a middle-class neighborhood
of Washington DC. At the age of 7, he began studying piano and earned the
nickname "Duke" for his gentlemanly ways. He was influenced by stride
piano masters such as James P. Johnson and Willie the Lion Smith.
Ellington followed his passion for ragtime and
began to play professionally at age 17. At the age of 19, Ellington married Edna
Thompson, who had been his girlfriend since high school. He had only one kid.
Mercer Kennedy Ellington.
In 1923 he
had moved to New York City and had his own band, the Washingtonians. He later formed the Duke
Ellington Orchestra which in 1930 had grown to include 12 musicians. He was
extremely proud of all that he did with the orchestra.
Duke Ellington’s occupations, he was a Composer,
bandleader, pianist. Duke
Ellington's fame rose to the rafters in the 1940s when he composed several
masterworks. Among Ellington's many honors and awards were honorary doctorates
from Howard and Yale Universities, membership in the American Institute of Arts
and Letters, election as the first jazz musician member of the Royal Music
Academy in Stockholm, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ellington earned 12 Grammy
awards, 9 when he was alive and 3 when he was dead. On May 24, 1974, at the age of 75, Duke Ellington died of lung cancer
and pneumonia. His last words were, Music is how I live, why I live and how I
will be remembered.
Kris see me about this post . . . i suspect you didn't upload an MP3 and that's why it's not playing.
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