Duke Ellington Research Paper

Duke Ellington was a celebrated pianist and composer of a jazz orchestra. Born in 1899, Ellington proved himself to be an ardent American composer through his numerous orchestra functions until the end of his life in 1974. He is known to have made several collaborations with other jazz musicians through his world tours. Among Ellington’s achievements include changing the attitude of jazz and making it to be accepted as a form of art. Benny Goodman was also a jazz maestro who was born in 1909 and died in 1986.As a bandleader, Goodman was also reputed to have enhanced the image of jazz music, to the extent that it become respectable. musical contributions

As an eloquent and charismatic musician, Ellington is known to have initiated new dancing styles. The styles were established through trial and error, where band members would initially use whichever gig they could discover. Between 1924 and 1925, Ellington made the greatest musical contributions to his life. For instance, he created 8 records in 1925, through which he received credits for them. In 1925, he capped his debut with an additional four compositions. Distinct from Ellington however, Goodman’s contribution was partly within the movie industry, where he recorded compositions for movie shorts, and radio programs such as let’s dance

Ellington nurtured several talents as a leader. For instance, he developed Johnny Hodges to become an excellent saxophonist (Lawrence 17). He allowed his bandsmen to succeed, and this was exhibited by the manner in which he would sometimes record the songs that had been produced by his junior members. His leadership as a bandleader made him to explore several avenues such as going to Harlem to try out with other well established jazz musicians. As a leader of the Black Sox Orchestra, Ellington oversaw it in difficult times such as during a fire outbreak within their premises (Lawrence 31). The crisis made him to re-open it in