ipl-logo

Duke Ellington Biography

1680 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Biographical essay on duke ellington

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Duke Ellington
Career and adult life
Duke Ellington was a real innovator; he used his band to influence the growth of jazz and the American music sector. Like Hajdu noted, I believe Duke Ellington’s music made the real sound of America (72). He was an American bandleader, jazz composer, and pianist, who served for long as leader of big-band jazz. Born to a negro Butler, Ellington took up his the piano at the age of seven searching for dignity, attention, and generational fame. He joined the Elmer Snowden, the Washingtonians in New York (Collier, 46). Snowden was impressed by his talent and passion for music, so he handed over the band to him as the leader. The band catered only to the whites, a factor that disturbed …show more content…

The combinations composed individual performances that were favorite to his fans.
• Duke Ellington’s music had exceptional musical personalities, whom he had recognized their talents and exclusively wrote for them. This made his sounds unique, and could never give the same resonance when played by other bands.
• The music was rich in harmony, a characteristic that was uncommon in the music produced in the Swing Era. Ellington managed to develop unique harmony with unusual chord progressions. For example, using his unique harmony, Ellington was able to present pieces that had ambiguous introductions and interludes that connected the central themes.
• Some of the pieces were amazingly influenced by his everyday blues. For example, his travel would surprisingly appear in his piece serving as a primary inspiration. Notably sound of the train and its rhythms were used in his pieces; he usually used the train for travel with his band. A case in point is the piece, Daybreak Express, which had the sound and rhythms derived from train travel.
Five elements or devices used by …show more content…

Ellington was concerned with the people relating his slave descendants and his music. He confessed that he did all the music and performance for dignity. In the film “Love you madly” he displayed his responsibility as a Swing Era bandleader to poetry and use jazz-oriented big band music to push the musician movement after the world war II.
Ellington paid tribute to the black artists figures, centers of autonomy and achievements to people such as Liberia and Harlem, amidst the intense criticism that he was not fighting for the black liberation. In the film, he shows his moving against its strictures, where he documented and celebrated black history and culture. The film portrays that his activism was significant, artistic, cultural, but not explicitly

Show More
Related
157 Words | 1 Pages

First I learned to play the piano at the cotton club. I loved to play at the cotton club. I started to play at the cotton club when I was in my teens I played every weekend. I wrote and played the great jazz for about 50 years.my death was in may 24,1974.I died from a heart attack. I was the greatest jazz artist ever seen in the world.

Read More
148 Words | 1 Pages

The Harlem Renaissance helped to promote a renewed source of black cultural pride through self-expression by people like Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Some of Duke Ellington’s contributions to the Harlem Renaissance is his long musical career. He made swing a very popular style of jazz to play, and his band was a huge local hit. He inspired many musicians today, with his piano playing skills, and his band’s attributes (Trombone plunger, etc.). This shows that Duke Ellington added many things during the Harlem Renaissance.

Read More
487 Words | 2 Pages

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is considered to be America’s greatest composer, bandleader, and recording artist, as well as pianist. His father was James Edward Ellington; a white house butler, and had Duke on April 29th, 1899 and began learning piano from age seven; influenced by amazing piano players such as James P. Johnson, Willie “the Lion” Smith and Fats Waller. He earned the nickname Duke for his gentleman behavior. Ellington is a major figure in the history of jazz music; he created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in Western Music.

Read More
404 Words | 2 Pages

He composed thousands of scores and created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in all of western music. He influenced millions of people around the world and at home, giving America its own sound for the first time. Today, Duke Ellington is seen as one of the biggest originators of big-band jazz and an inspirational figure to jazz musicians. Born on April 29, 1899, Edward Kennedy Ellington, better known as Duke Ellington, grew up in Washington D.C. with his parents Daisy and

Read More
1157 Words | 5 Pages

Arguably one of the very best is Louis Armstrong. Known to be well versed in not only trumpet but also vocals and even composition. Louis Armstrong inspired many people across a wide range. He was so actively involved in everything going on around him. He was one of the only African American musicians who spoke up against political issues, he publically talked about the wrongness of school segregation (Harris).

Read More
1903 Words | 8 Pages

Who was Edward Kennedy Ellington? “Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years” (allmusic.com). Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in April 29, 1899, to a middle-classed neighborhood of Washington, D.C., also known as U Street. “Duke Ellington grew up in Washington, D.C. during one of the most difficult periods for African-Americans” (gwu.edu). When Ellington was 14, he received the nickname Duke.

Read More
912 Words | 4 Pages

Duke Ellington was a jazz author, conductor, and entertainer amid the Harlem Renaissance. During the developmental Cotton Club years, he explored different avenues regarding and built up the style that would rapidly bring him overall achievement. Ellington would be among the first to concentrate on melodic shape and sythesis in jazz. Ellington composed more than 2000 pieces in his lifetime. The Duke Ellington Orchestra was the "house" symphony for various years at the Cotton Club.

Read More
782 Words | 4 Pages

Benny Goodman also pushed for a diverse band, being the organizer of an interracial group (Swing). In this instance, it was through this connection to music that black and white people came together. At the time that swing was popular, World War II was taking place. It seems legit that people would want to get their feeling out somehow. Swing music did just that.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

Since its early roots in New Orleans, Jazz has been essential part of American culture through its role in showcasing and contributing to America’s complex history. Throughout the years, Jazz artists have used improvisation and individuality, which are essential traits of the music, to keep the music celebrated and popular around the world. However, only few artists have used Jazz music to support social movements and used to influence people’s lives. Unlike others, I believe John Coltrane, was one of the greatest saxophonist, who portrayed his individuality through his belief in spiritual power of music and using his improvisation to change music style while influencing social issues. Coltrane was a deeply spiritual man who believed music was a vehicle for the

Read More
1014 Words | 5 Pages

Miles Davis, one of jazz’s most influential musicians with career that expanded six decades. Davis was known for his always changing style, from bebop to rock. He had been part of the bebop, cool jazz, hardbop, modal, rock-fusion movements, and shortly before his death working with hip-hop fusion. Throughout his entire career, Miles Davis preferred the audience recognize him for what he was doing then, not what he had done in the past. Over his sixty-year career he had earned several nicknames: The Sorcerer, the Prince of Darkness, and the man who walked on eggshells.

Read More
869 Words | 4 Pages

In the 1920s and 1930s, a large movement of art and literature took place in the city of Harlem. Many African American authors express their thoughts and ideas through anyway possible. Whether it be music, art, or literature, its impact gave the African Americans a new place in society. One composer of music was very influential to all people. His name is Duke Ellington.

Read More
1090 Words | 5 Pages

In life, there are few things as organic as jazz music. With its raw sound and scrappy roots, one cannot help but feel life head-on whilst witnessing players produce such a sound right before their eyes. Its origins and arch are a product of the United States’ national culture and identity. Jazz exists not only as a deeply rooted form of art but as a cultural marker, particularly during its commercial peak in the first half of the 20th century. Its impact transcends borders, and it is one of the most beloved musical genres worldwide.

Read More
861 Words | 4 Pages

He was great at expressing his soul and love through his music, which was exactly what the black community had during

Read More
1263 Words | 6 Pages

His music got African Americans through such rough times. His voice gave them hope as well. He was the one that shaped the way that jazz is today. The Harlem Renaissance was an important movement that showed the talents of gifted African American musicians, poets, artist, and many

Read More
1057 Words | 5 Pages

“America is going to hell if we don’t use her vast resources to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life” (Martin Luther King Jr). At this point, we are in hell; more than 16 million children in the United States - live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level (nccp.org). This is a serious issue for children due to the fact that poverty can have a physical and intellectual effect on a child’s mental development. The vision as a society should be to end child poverty by first ensuring that all parents and caregivers have the resource to support and nurture their children through livable wages, affordable childcare, basic needs for nutrition, and housing assistance. Child

Read More

More about Duke Ellington Biography

Related Topics

Open Document