Ellington

An American jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist, composer of jazz music, I am all of this and probably more. I am Edward Kennedy (“Duke”) Ellington. I was nicknamed “Duke” by a boyhood friend of mine who admired my royal air. And the name stuck to me. I grew up listening to black music. At that time jazz was considered low and vulgar by most respectable and sophisticated people like myself. I was born in Washington on April 29, 1899. Born to the son of James William Ellington and Eliza Jane Johnson. I am said to be the most prolific composer of my time. I’ve never actually had much education, but still I was able to develop good speech, dress, and manner. When I was young, the times were bad for us. There was agricultural depression. My family lived as middle-class citizens. We weren’t wealthy nor were we poor. My parents have musical backgrounds.

I got my first job selling peanuts at Washington Senator’s baseball games, and it was the first time I was placed as a performer for a crowd. When I was a teenager I played the piano in a musical style known as ragtime. I attended Armstrong Manual Training School to study commercial art instead of going to an academics-oriented school. During the summers, in Philadelphia or Atlantic City, I began to seek out and listen to ragtime pianists there. While I was on vacation in Asbury Park, there was a hot pianist that I heard of, his name was Harvey Brooks. Guess what? At the end of my vacation I went and sought for Harvey Brooks in Philadelphia, that was where he showed me some pianistic tricks and shortcuts. His playing triggered me to start up my music career, and then you have it, me, Duke Ellington the musical is born. I learnt from Oliver “Doc” Perry and Louis Brown, they taught me to read music and helped me improve me playing skills on the piano. I also went to find piano playing jobs at clubs and cares in Washington. I actually dropped out of school to pursuer my music career. I played for my friends and at parties, and soon I formed a small dance band named The Duke's Serenaders in 1917.

I moved away from Washington to New York City in 1923. I went to New York to find musicians who could contribute special sounds to my band. I had to build up my band. I found an American trumpeter James “Bubber” Miley, whose playing was characterized by unique sounds using mutes. Through the use of radio broadcasting, listeners in New York were able to hear my music, which got me quite popular with the peoples. I also made my first recording and renamed the band to Washingtonians, we are from Washington right? Our first record was in 1924, “Choo choo (Gotta Hurry Home)” and “Rainy Nights (Rainy Days)”. But our band wasn’t that big yet until our Manager Irving Mills come along in 1926. In 1928, I had an agreement with Irving Mills; he produced and published my music. There were recording companies that came calling for me, there was Brunswick, Columbia, and Victor. Astonishingly our band became the most sought-after band in the United States and through the world. Isn’t that just amazing, just imagine yourself being known by the whole world. We played at places like the Exclusive Club, Connie’s Inn, the Hollywood Club, Ciro’s, the Plantation Club, and the Cotton Club. Thanks for the radio, our music were broadcasted and listened to by many. Through broadcasts from the Cotton Club, helped