Duke Ellington.com

The 3-minute interview: Michelle Delaney

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:36:28 -0500

Delaney, a curator of photography at the National Museum of American History, will talk about the relationship between Duke Ellington and the Scurlock family of photographers at 12:15 p.m. Thursday at the National Museum of American History.

Duke Ellington Orchestra :: Saturday, February 6 at 2pm & 8pm

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:58:00 -0500

"Winner of 12 Grammy awards as one of the most influential jazz bands of all time. The tradition continues in Largo! Don't miss this historic event! Hits include: Take the A Train, It Don't Mean a Thing (If it Ain't Got that Swing), and Mood Indigo just to name a few.

The Largo Cultural Center
105 Central Park Drive
Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm
Box Office Hours:
Tue-Fri 10am to 6pm
Sat 10am to 2pm"

The Duke Ellington Orchestra Friday, February 5th @ 8pm Plaza Theatre :: 425 North Bumby Avenue Orlando, Florida 32803

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:58:43 -0500

"Duke Ellington was eulogized as "the supreme jazz talent of the past fifty years" by critic Alistair Cooke in a 1983 issue of Esquire. A prolific composer, Ellington created over two thousand pieces of music, including the standard songs "Take the A-Train" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and the longer works Black, Brown, and Beige, Liberian Suite, and Afro-Eurasian Eclipse. With the variously named bands he led from 1919 until his death in 1974, Ellington was responsible for many innovations in the jazz field, such as "jungle-style" use of the growl and plunger, and the manipulation of the human voice as an instrument--singing notes without words."

In Concert: JOHN PIZZARELLI & THE SWING SEVEN :: ROCKIN’ IN RHYTHM :: A Tribute To Duke Ellington

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:29:53 -0500

"In Concert
JOHN PIZZARELLI & THE SWING SEVEN
ROCKIN’ IN RHYTHM
A Tribute To Duke Ellington."

Saturday February 27
8:00 PM
at The Park Theatre in Cranston, Rhode Island

Sunday February 28
4:00 PM
at The Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts

The Zoot Suit Riots: fashion, rebellion and youth in Forties LA

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:18:55 -0500

"During the Forties, American teens were at odds with the adults. They went to clubs that served oversized menus and soda and would listen to music by Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong. They would go dancing in ballrooms, for walks with their sweethearts and took advantage of their time as youths. They danced the jitterbug, wore saddle shoes, oversized skirts, and Zoot Suits along with wide brimmed hats."

John Pizzarelli Rockin' in Rhythm: A Duke Ellington Tribute

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:08:45 -0500

"But the pièce de résistance, the track that leaves all others in the dust, is a rollicking rendition of “Perdido,” adapted from Ellington's version on his ..."

For Nixon, All That Jazz

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:25:12 -0500

"IN April 1969, three months after his inauguration, President Richard Nixon hosted a party at the White House to celebrate Duke Ellington’s 70th birthday and award the Duke the Medal of Freedom. "

The ‘Duke’ Gets His Due in Austin – the “Live Music Capital of the World!”

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:11:52 -0500

"Jazz legend Duke Ellington died in 1974, but his music lives on. The Duke Ellington Orchestra appeared with the Austin Symphony on New Year’s Eve at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas and sent a large audience home with smiles on their faces"

Memories of Sugar Hill: A Multi-Media presentation from the New York Times

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:25:21 -0500

"In a time of discrimination and segregation, young people growing up in an area of Harlem known as Sugar Hill right before and after World War II found success and inspiration all around them. Explore the people who lived in Sugar Hill and hear the stories of those who grew up there.."

Django Reinhardt: 100 Years Of Hot Jazz

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:10:18 -0500

"It's the Paris of Ernest Hemingway. It's Paris before the war. Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Faure, Erik Satie — French musicians were under their influence. But it was also the era of swing. The arrangements of Fletcher Henderson [and] Duke Ellington's records brought a true revolution to France."

Joan Aragone: Radio host to discuss jazz great Billy Strayhorn in Menlo Park

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:55:17 -0500

Most everybody knows of Duke Ellington, the great jazz musician, composer and orchestra leader known for his cool elegance, lush sound and sophisticated melodies.

Clark Terry Receives 2010 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:48:55 -0500

Terry recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra, The Dutch Metropole Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, at least thirty high school and college ensembles, his own duos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, octets, and two big bands - Clark Terry's Big Bad Band and Clark Terry's Young Titans of Jazz.

Duke Ellington Birthday Celebration: The New York Times

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:11:43 -0400

“Somebody said they want us to do ‘A Train’ again,” Paul Mercer Ellington, the musical director of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, reported just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

And why not? A full 27 minutes had passed since the orchestra’s last performance of his grandfather’s signature song, a song some Ellington fans cannot hear too often. Wednesday was, after all, the 110th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth, and the orchestra was ready to celebrate

Duke Ellington Day! Catch the Original 1939 a Train

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:53:55 -0400

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has declared April 29 Duke Ellington Day in honor of the 110th anniversary of the jazz legends birth. To commemorate his life, The Islands Of The Bahamas are sponsoring a special run of the last surviving 1939 A Train, made famous by Duke Ellingtons signature tune Take the A Train.

WHAT: Paul Ellington, members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and musicians from Music Under New York (MUNY) will perform the iconic song on the mezzanine at 125th Street and St. Nicholas. All musicians will then board and perform on the historic train as it travels out to JFK in regular service.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
10 a.m. Remarks and performance by Paul Ellington, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and musicians from MUNY
11 a.m. sharp All Aboard! A Train departs 125th Street, making express stops
11 a.m. 2 p.m. The A Train runs in revenue service and is open to the public

WHERE: 125th Street and St. Nicholas A Train (IND) Subway Station

WHO: Paul Ellington and The Duke Ellington Orchestra

MODA Entertainment, Inc.

Musicians from Music Under New York

Bahamas musicians and VIPs JetBlue Airways crewmembers

SPONSOR: The Islands of The Bahamas, one of Duke Ellingtons favorite haunts and home of the famous Cat and Fiddle Club in Nassau where top Jazz musicians from around the world entertained in the 50s and 60s.

D.C. celebrates Duke Ellington quarter release

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:21:10 -0400

Jazz legend is first black American to be featured on coin in circulation

Sesquicentennial ends in big way

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:15:36 -0400

Valparaiso University is wrapping up its 150th anniversary celebration in a big way, bringing in celebrity names. The university has hired actor John Lithgow and the Duke Ellington Orchestra to perform at the 150th anniversary Gala, scheduled for May 2.

A Modest ‘Honor’ Jessye Norman’s tribute to Duke Ellington.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:10:19 -0400

In the first days of Honor!— Carnegie Hall’s three-week festival of African-American culture—the robed and turbaned soprano Jessye Norman stood near the altar of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and, with priestly pomp, flung the gilded phrases of Duke Ellington’s sacred music toward the echoing nave.

Quincy Jones Lobbies For Secretary of Culture Position

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:13:58 -0500

A month ago at my high school in Seattle, I asked a student if he knew who Louie Armstrong was. He said he had heard his name. I asked him about Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. He didn’t even know their names. That hurts me a lot."

Ellington's score still celebrated

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 17:04:53 -0500

Though heard only in bits and pieces during the film, Duke Ellington’s score for “Anatomy of a Murder” contains some of his most evocative and eloquent music. The sound track, reissued by Sony in a deluxe edition in 1999, beckons with the alluring scent of a femme fatale.

The Day Duke Ellington Came to Santa Rosa

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:57:26 -0500

I’ve retold this story numerous times to friends and always found it funny. Today, I look at it with deeper meaning. Duke Ellington came to Santa Rosa and no one knew who he was. This, to me, is a sad part of our history, that we denied the most famous composer in a predominantly black art form even the dignity of recognition.

Would Duke Approve?

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:36:38 -0500

The death of sculptor Robert Graham brings to mind one of the most controversial public sculptures in our fair city, the Duke Ellington Memorial at Fifth Avenue and 110th Street on Central Park.

Duke Ellington House, New York, NY

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:38:16 -0500

The Duke Ellington House, or Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington House, is where Duke Ellington, the famous African American composer and jazz musician, resided from 1939 through 1961. The building and/or Ellington’s apartment, Apartment 4A, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

On this day in Black History: November 29

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:38:53 -0500

1915 Big band composer/arranger supreme Billy Strayhorn was born. Strayhorn was behind-the-scenes glue to many a Duke Ellington hit, collaboarating on such classics as “Take The A Train,” “Johnny Come Lately,” and “Rain Check.” He was with Ellington for twenty-eight years.

Quincy Jones New Book Discusses Duke Ellington

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:41:21 -0500

The release of Quincy’s new book, The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions, is just a week away. The 148-page tome features more than 400 photos, as well as a preface by Bono, a foreword by Clint Eastwood, an introduction by Maya Angelou, and an afterword by Sidney Poitier. You’ve recorded with everyone from jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles, to Michael Jackson to today’s hip-hop artists, as well as helping to launch Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey to superstardom. Does a common thread exist between all of the great artists that you have collaborated with, aside from you?

Barack Obama: A Duke Ellington for modern times

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:21:34 -0500

The year my father graduated from high school, Duke Ellington toured the country with his 15-piece orchestra, playing his hits "Mood Indigo" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" to ballrooms packed with his fans, but things being what they were, they traveled in a private railroad car because you just never knew if you could get a hotel room or a meal in a restaurant or be turned away by some jerk in a suit and tie.

Duke Ellinton's "Hit me with a Hot Note Baby" featured on ABC's hit series Eli Stone

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:21:00 -0521

Katie Holmes made a big splash on this season's Eli Stone, purring and slinking her way through a Duke Ellington number in one of Eli's trademark musical hallucinations. She really nailed it; Who knew Katie Holmes could sing and dance so well. OK, I did have an idea because I saw the commercials for this week's episode, but you know what I mean.

Duke Ellington.com website Review

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:21:16 -0500

The Official Duke Ellington Site is everything the name implies. Operated on behalf of the Mercer Ellington and Duke Ellington estates, this visually rich site is a must see site. Not content with merely housing historical materials, this site contains recent news about the Ellington Orchestra now headed by Duke’s grandson. They’ve just added an online store of Ellington-related merchandise. Well worth a visit.

D.C. Quarter Vote Winner: Duke Ellington

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:21:08 -0500

Duke Ellington has edged out Frederick Douglass and Benjamin Banneker as the most popular image to be etched on the D.C. quarter.

Take the A-Train to Hillsborough: Billy Strayhorn gets a Monument in North Carolina

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:21:01 -0500

Jazzman Billy Strayhorn was born in Ohio, his signature composition is indelibly associated with New York City and he's best-known as one of Washington, D.C., native Duke Ellington's key collaborators -- Strayhorn's "Take the A-Train" is what starts playing when you dial up Ellington's Web site. But Strayhorn, who died in 1967, had plenty of ties to North Carolina.

Kennedy Center Highlights the District's Jazz Roots

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:20:55 -0500

Since the early 1900s, Washington has had a significant influence on the world of jazz. Besides one of the city's best-known residents, Duke Ellington, the city's clubs have long been a place where jazz evolved.

Dawn of the jazz age: Sir Duke Ellington's adventures in Britain

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:20:51 -0500

Seventy-five years ago, Duke Ellington's first tour of Britain changed the face of music – and paved the way for Beatlemania.

Newark, New Jersey hosts black cinema 1st-day party in Honor of Jazz Legend Duke Ellington

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:20:45 -0500

There was an event in Hoboken when the Frank Sinatra stamp came out in May, but it wasn't a first-day-of-issue ceremony. Two of those were held in New York and Las Vegas. The one in Hoboken was called a "first day of sale" ceremony, somewhat a diminished honor.

But New Jersey will host a genuine first-day-of-issue party July 16 at the Newark Museum, where the Vintage Black Cinema stamps featuring Duke Ellington will make their debut during the annual Newark Black Film Festival.

LICENSEBOX WELCOMES THE IMMORTAL DUKE ELLINGTON TO ITS CLIENT LIST 6.22.2008

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:20:39 -0500

LICENSEBOX takes great pleasure in announcing the addition of famed composer and musician Duke Ellington to its roster of esteemed clients who have made a lasting impact on the history of show business and Classic Hollywood.

The music and influence of Duke Ellington is both timeless and universal. His more than 3,000 musical compositions have entertained millions around the world, both during his lifetime and after his death. Among his most famous titles are: It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing, Sophisticated Lady, Solitude, and Mood Indigo. Duke Ellington's popular compositions set the bar for generations of brilliant jazz, pop, theatre and soundtrack composers to come. Many of todays most accomplished artists freely acknowledge the influence Ellingtons unique talents have had on their own musical careers.