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			&lt;h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading">Duke Ellington&lt;/h1>
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				&lt;div class="dablink">This article is about the American Jazz composer and performer.  For other uses, see &lt;a href="/wiki/Ellington" title="Ellington">Ellington&lt;/a>.&lt;/div>
&lt;table class="infobox vcard" style="width: 22em; font-size: 88%; line-height: 1.5em; text-align:left">
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="text-align:center; font-size:125%; background:#f4bf92;" colspan="2">&lt;span class="fn">Duke Ellington&lt;/span>&lt;/th>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>

&lt;td style="text-align:center;" class="" colspan="2">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Duke_Ellington_restored.jpg" class="image" title="Frankfurt am Main, February 6, 1965">&lt;img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Duke_Ellington_restored.jpg/220px-Duke_Ellington_restored.jpg" width="220" height="308" />&lt;/a>&lt;br />
&lt;div>&lt;small>Frankfurt am Main, February 6, 1965&lt;/small>&lt;/div>
&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="text-align:center; line-height:1.5em; background:#f4bf92;" colspan="2">Background information&lt;/th>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="white-space:nowrap;">Birth name&lt;/th>
&lt;td class="nickname">Edward Kennedy Ellington&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th>Born&lt;/th>

&lt;td>April 29, 1899&lt;span style="display:none">(&lt;span class="bday">1899-04-29&lt;/span>)&lt;/span>&lt;br />
&lt;small>&lt;a href="/wiki/Washington,_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.&lt;/a>, U.S.&lt;/small>&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th>Died&lt;/th>
&lt;td>May 24, 1974 (aged&#160;75)&lt;br />
&lt;small>&lt;a href="/wiki/New_York_City,_New_York" title="New York City, New York" class="mw-redirect">New York City, New York&lt;/a>, U.S.&lt;/small>&lt;/td>

&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="white-space:nowrap;">&lt;a href="/wiki/Music_genre" title="Music genre">Genres&lt;/a>&lt;/th>
&lt;td>&lt;a href="/wiki/Orchestral_jazz" title="Orchestral jazz">Orchestral jazz&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Swing_music" title="Swing music">swing&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Big_band_music" title="Big band music" class="mw-redirect">big band&lt;/a>&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="white-space:nowrap;">Occupations&lt;/th>
&lt;td>Bandleader, pianist, composer&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>

&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="white-space:nowrap;">&lt;a href="/wiki/Musical_instrument" title="Musical instrument">Instruments&lt;/a>&lt;/th>
&lt;td class="note">Piano&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th style="white-space:nowrap;">Years active&lt;/th>
&lt;td>1914–1974&lt;/td>
&lt;/tr>
&lt;tr>
&lt;th>Website&lt;/th>
&lt;td>&lt;a href="http://www.dukeellingtonlegacy.com" class="external text" rel="nofollow">Duke Ellington Legacy&lt;/a>&lt;/td>

&lt;/tr>
&lt;/table>
&lt;p>&lt;b>Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington&lt;/b> (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American &lt;a href="/wiki/Composer" title="Composer">composer&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Pianist" title="Pianist">pianist&lt;/a>, and &lt;a href="/wiki/Big_band" title="Big band">big band&lt;/a> &lt;a href="/wiki/Bandleader" title="Bandleader">leader&lt;/a>.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>A prominent nigure in the history of &lt;a href="/wiki/Jazz" title="Jazz">jazz&lt;/a>, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including &lt;a href="/wiki/Blues" title="Blues">blues&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Gospel_music" title="Gospel music">gospel&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Film_score" title="Film score">film scores&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Popular_music" title="Popular music">popular&lt;/a>, and &lt;a href="/wiki/Classical_music" title="Classical music">classical&lt;/a>. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his &lt;a href="/wiki/Orchestra" title="Orchestra">orchestra&lt;/a>, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, and world tours. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or &lt;a href="/wiki/Big_band" title="Big band">big band&lt;/a>, and thanks to his eloquence and extraordinary charisma, he is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional genres of music. His reputation increased after his death, the &lt;a href="/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize" title="Pulitzer Prize">Pulitzer Prize&lt;/a> Board bestowing a special posthumous honor in 1999.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-pulitzer_0-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-pulitzer-0">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>1&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Ellington called his music "American Music" rather than &lt;a href="/wiki/Jazz" title="Jazz">jazz&lt;/a>, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category".&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Tucker-1_1-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-Tucker-1-1">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>2&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> These included many of the musicians who were members of his orchestra, some of whom are considered among the best in jazz in their own right, but it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known &lt;a href="/wiki/Orchestral_jazz" title="Orchestral jazz">jazz orchestral&lt;/a> units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Johnny_Hodges" title="Johnny Hodges">Johnny Hodges&lt;/a>, "Concerto for Cootie" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Cootie_Williams" title="Cootie Williams">Cootie Williams&lt;/a>, which later became "&lt;a href="/wiki/Do_Nothing_Till_You_Hear_from_Me" title="Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me" class="mw-redirect">Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me&lt;/a>" with &lt;a href="/wiki/Bob_Russell" title="Bob Russell" class="mw-redirect">Bob Russell&lt;/a>'s lyrics, and "The Mooche" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Tricky_Sam_Nanton" title="Tricky Sam Nanton">Tricky Sam Nanton&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Bubber_Miley" title="Bubber Miley" class="mw-redirect">Bubber Miley&lt;/a>. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as &lt;a href="/wiki/Juan_Tizol" title="Juan Tizol">Juan Tizol&lt;/a>'s "&lt;a href="/wiki/Caravan_(song)" title="Caravan (song)">Caravan&lt;/a>" and "&lt;a href="/wiki/Perdido_(song)" title="Perdido (song)">Perdido&lt;/a>" which brought the '&lt;a href="/wiki/Spanish_Tinge" title="Spanish Tinge">Spanish Tinge&lt;/a>' to &lt;a href="/wiki/Big-band" title="Big-band" class="mw-redirect">big-band&lt;/a> jazz. Several members of the orchestra remained there for several decades. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger-pianist &lt;a href="/wiki/Billy_Strayhorn" title="Billy Strayhorn">Billy Strayhorn&lt;/a>, whom he called his "writing and arranging companion."&lt;sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-2">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>3&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in several films.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Ellington led his band from 1923 until his death in 1974. His son &lt;a href="/wiki/Mercer_Ellington" title="Mercer Ellington">Mercer Ellington&lt;/a>, who had already been handling all administrative aspects of his father's business for several decades, led the band until his own death from cancer in 1996. At that point, the original band dissolved. Paul Ellington, Mercer's youngest son and executor of the Duke Ellington estate,&lt;sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-3">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>4&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> kept a reincarnated version of "The Duke Ellington Orchestra" going from Mercer's death onwards.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-4">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>5&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
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&lt;div id="toctitle">
&lt;h2>Contents&lt;/h2>

&lt;/div>
&lt;ul>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1">&lt;a href="#Biography">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Biography&lt;/span>&lt;/a>
&lt;ul>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2">&lt;a href="#Early_life">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1.1&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Early life&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3">&lt;a href="#Early_career">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1.2&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Early career&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4">&lt;a href="#Duke_in_the_1940s">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1.3&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Duke in the 1940s&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>

&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5">&lt;a href="#Career_revival">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1.4&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Career revival&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6">&lt;a href="#Last_years">&lt;span class="tocnumber">1.5&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Last years&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;/ul>
&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7">&lt;a href="#Work_in_films_and_the_theater">&lt;span class="tocnumber">2&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Work in films and the theater&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8">&lt;a href="#Private_life">&lt;span class="tocnumber">3&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Private life&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>

&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9">&lt;a href="#Legacy">&lt;span class="tocnumber">4&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Legacy&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10">&lt;a href="#Discography">&lt;span class="tocnumber">5&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Discography&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11">&lt;a href="#Awards.2C_honors_and_recognitions">&lt;span class="tocnumber">6&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Awards, honors and recognitions&lt;/span>&lt;/a>
&lt;ul>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12">&lt;a href="#Memorials">&lt;span class="tocnumber">6.1&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Memorials&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>

&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13">&lt;a href="#Tributes">&lt;span class="tocnumber">6.2&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Tributes&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14">&lt;a href="#Homage_from_critics">&lt;span class="tocnumber">6.3&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Homage from critics&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;/ul>
&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15">&lt;a href="#Awards">&lt;span class="tocnumber">7&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Awards&lt;/span>&lt;/a>
&lt;ul>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16">&lt;a href="#Grammy_Awards">&lt;span class="tocnumber">7.1&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Grammy Awards&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>

&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-17">&lt;a href="#Grammy_Hall_of_Fame">&lt;span class="tocnumber">7.2&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Grammy Hall of Fame&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18">&lt;a href="#Honors_and_inductions">&lt;span class="tocnumber">7.3&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Honors and inductions&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;/ul>
&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19">&lt;a href="#Notes">&lt;span class="tocnumber">8&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Notes&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-20">&lt;a href="#Bibliography_.28further_reading.29">&lt;span class="tocnumber">9&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Bibliography (further reading)&lt;/span>&lt;/a>

&lt;ul>
&lt;li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21">&lt;a href="#Reference_works_.28discographies.2C_filmographies.2C_etc..29">&lt;span class="tocnumber">9.1&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">Reference works (discographies, filmographies, etc.)&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
&lt;/ul>
&lt;/li>
&lt;li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-22">&lt;a href="#External_links">&lt;span class="tocnumber">10&lt;/span> &lt;span class="toctext">External links&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/li>
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&lt;h2>&lt;span class="editsection">[&lt;a href="/w/index.php?title=Duke_Ellington&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1" title="Edit section: Biography">edit&lt;/a>]&lt;/span> &lt;span class="mw-headline" id="Biography">Biography&lt;/span>&lt;/h2>
&lt;h3>&lt;span class="editsection">[&lt;a href="/w/index.php?title=Duke_Ellington&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2" title="Edit section: Early life">edit&lt;/a>]&lt;/span> &lt;span class="mw-headline" id="Early_life">Early life&lt;/span>&lt;/h3>
&lt;p>Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. They lived with his maternal grandparents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place), NW in the West End neighborhood of &lt;a href="/wiki/Washington,_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">Washington, D.C.&lt;/a>&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Lawrence-1_5-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-Lawrence-1-5">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>6&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> His father, James Edward Ellington was born in &lt;a href="/wiki/Lincolnton,_North_Carolina" title="Lincolnton, North Carolina">Lincolnton, North Carolina&lt;/a> on April 15, 1879 and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1886 with his parents.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Lawrence-2_6-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-Lawrence-2-6">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>7&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Daisy Kennedy, was born in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1879, and was the daughter of a former American &lt;a href="/wiki/Slave" title="Slave" class="mw-redirect">slave&lt;/a>.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Lawrence-1_5-1" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-Lawrence-1-5">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>6&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-7">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>8&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> James Ellington made &lt;a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blueprint" class="extiw" title="wikt:blueprint">blueprints&lt;/a> for the &lt;a href="/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">United States Navy&lt;/a>. He also worked as a butler for Dr. Middleton F. Cuthbert, a prominent white physician, and occasionally worked as a &lt;a href="/wiki/White_House" title="White House">White House&lt;/a> caterer.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-8">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>9&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Daisy and J.E. were both pianists. She primarily played &lt;a href="/wiki/Parlor_song" title="Parlor song" class="mw-redirect">parlor songs&lt;/a> and he operatic airs.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>At the age of seven Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-9">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>10&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him to live elegantly. Ellington’s childhood friends noticed that "his casual, offhand manner, his easy grace, and his dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman",&lt;sup id="cite_ref-Terkel_10-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-Terkel-10">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>11&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> and began calling him Duke. Ellington credited his "chum" Edgar McEntree for the nickname. "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."&lt;sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-11">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>12&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. "&lt;a href="/wiki/Teddy_Roosevelt" title="Teddy Roosevelt" class="mw-redirect">President Roosevelt (Teddy)&lt;/a> would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play," he recalled.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-12">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>13&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. He got his first job selling peanuts at &lt;a href="/wiki/Minnesota_Twins" title="Minnesota Twins">Washington Senators&lt;/a> baseball games.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In the summer of 1914, while working as a &lt;a href="/wiki/Soda_jerk" title="Soda jerk">soda jerk&lt;/a> at the Poodle Dog Cafe, he wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). Ellington created "Soda Fountain Rag" by ear, because he had not yet learned to read and write music. "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot," Ellington recalled. "Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire."&lt;sup id="cite_ref-current_13-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-current-13">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>14&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> In his autobiography, &lt;i>Music is my Mistress&lt;/i> (1973), Ellington said he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that playing the piano was not his talent. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at the age of fourteen. Hearing the poolroom pianists play ignited Ellington's love for the instrument and he began to take his piano studies seriously.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington began listening to, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D.C., but in &lt;a href="/wiki/Philadelphia" title="Philadelphia">Philadelphia&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Atlantic_City" title="Atlantic City" class="mw-redirect">Atlantic City&lt;/a>, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer months.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-current_13-1" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-current-13">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>14&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> &lt;a href="/wiki/Dunbar_High_School_(Washington,_D.C.)" title="Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.)">Dunbar High School&lt;/a> music teacher Henry Lee Grant gave him private lessons in harmony. With the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry, Ellington learned to read &lt;a href="/wiki/Sheet_music" title="Sheet music">sheet music&lt;/a>, project a professional style, and improve his technique. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with &lt;a href="/wiki/Stride_(music)" title="Stride (music)">stride pianists&lt;/a> &lt;a href="/wiki/James_P._Johnson" title="James P. Johnson">James P. Johnson&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Luckey_Roberts" title="Luckey Roberts">Luckey Roberts&lt;/a>. Later in New York he took advice from &lt;a href="/wiki/Will_Marion_Cook" title="Will Marion Cook">Will Marion Cook&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Fats_Waller" title="Fats Waller">Fats Waller&lt;/a>, and &lt;a href="/wiki/Sidney_Bechet" title="Sidney Bechet">Sidney Bechet&lt;/a>. Ellington started to play gigs in cafés and clubs in and around Washington, D.C. and his attachment grew to be so strong that he turned down an art scholarship to the &lt;a href="/wiki/Pratt_Institute" title="Pratt Institute">Pratt Institute&lt;/a> in Brooklyn in 1916. Three months before graduating he dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-simmonds_14-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-simmonds-14">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>15&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>

&lt;p>From 1917 through 1919, Ellington launched his musical career, painting commercial signs by day and playing piano by night. Through his day job, Duke's entrepreneurial side came out: when a customer would ask him to make a sign for a dance or party, he would ask them if they had musical entertainment; if not, Ellington would ask if he could play for them. He also had a messenger job with the U.S. Navy and State Departments. Ellington moved out of his parents' home and bought his own as he became a successful pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, and in late 1917 formed his first group, "The Duke’s Serenaders" ("Colored Syncopators", his telephone directory advertising proclaimed).&lt;sup id="cite_ref-simmonds_14-1" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-simmonds-14">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>15&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> He was not only a member, but also the booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall, where he took home 75 cents.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-15">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>16&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington played throughout the Washington, D.C. area and into Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included &lt;a href="/wiki/Otto_Hardwick" title="Otto Hardwick">Otto Hardwick&lt;/a>, who switched from bass to saxophone; &lt;a href="/wiki/Arthur_Whetsol" title="Arthur Whetsol">Arthur Whetsol&lt;/a> on trumpet; &lt;a href="/wiki/Elmer_Snowden" title="Elmer Snowden">Elmer Snowden&lt;/a> on banjo; and &lt;a href="/wiki/Sonny_Greer" title="Sonny Greer">Sonny Greer&lt;/a> on drums. The band thrived, performing for both African-American and white audiences, a rarity during the racially divided times.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-16">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>17&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>

&lt;h3>&lt;span class="editsection">[&lt;a href="/w/index.php?title=Duke_Ellington&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3" title="Edit section: Early career">edit&lt;/a>]&lt;/span> &lt;span class="mw-headline" id="Early_career">Early career&lt;/span>&lt;/h3>
&lt;div class="thumb tleft">
&lt;div class="thumbinner" style="width:222px;">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Masonic_Auditorium.jpg" class="image">&lt;img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Masonic_Auditorium.jpg/220px-Masonic_Auditorium.jpg" width="220" height="287" class="thumbimage" />&lt;/a>
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&lt;div class="magnify">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Masonic_Auditorium.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge">&lt;img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" />&lt;/a>&lt;/div>
Left: Duke Ellington probably 1950&lt;/div>
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&lt;p>When his drummer &lt;a href="/wiki/Sonny_Greer" title="Sonny Greer">Sonny Greer&lt;/a> was invited to join the &lt;a href="/wiki/Wilber_Sweatman" title="Wilber Sweatman" class="mw-redirect">Wilber Sweatman&lt;/a> Orchestra in New York City, Ellington made the fateful decision to leave behind his successful career in Washington, D.C., and move to &lt;a href="/wiki/Harlem" title="Harlem">Harlem&lt;/a>, becoming one of the figures of the &lt;a href="/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance" title="Harlem Renaissance">Harlem Renaissance&lt;/a>. New dance crazes like the &lt;a href="/wiki/Charleston_(dance)" title="Charleston (dance)">Charleston&lt;/a> emerged in Harlem, as well as African-American musical theater, including &lt;a href="/wiki/Eubie_Blake" title="Eubie Blake">Eubie Blake&lt;/a>'s &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Shuffle_Along" title="Shuffle Along">Shuffle Along&lt;/a>&lt;/i>. After the young musicians left the Sweatman Orchestra to strike out on their own, they found an emerging jazz scene that was highly competitive and hard to crack. They hustled pool by day and played whatever gig they could find. The young band met &lt;a href="/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith" title="Willie "The Lion" Smith">Willie "The Lion" Smith&lt;/a> who introduced them to the scene and gave them some money. They played at &lt;a href="/wiki/Rent_party" title="Rent party">rent-house parties&lt;/a> for income. After a few months the young musicians returned to Washington, D.C., feeling discouraged.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In June 1923 a gig in &lt;a href="/wiki/Atlantic_City,_New_Jersey" title="Atlantic City, New Jersey">Atlantic City&lt;/a>, New Jersey, led to a play date at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem. This was followed in September 1923 by a move to the Hollywood Club – 49th and Broadway – and a four-year engagement, which gave Ellington a solid artistic base. He was known to play the bugle at the end of each performance. The group was called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including &lt;a href="/wiki/James_%22Bubber%22_Miley" title="James "Bubber" Miley">James "Bubber" Miley&lt;/a>. They renamed themselves "The Washingtonians". Snowden left the group in early 1924 and Ellington took over as bandleader. After a fire the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the "Kentucky Club"), an engagement which set the stage for the biggest opportunities in Ellington's life.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including &lt;i>Choo Choo&lt;/i>.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-17">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>18&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> In 1925 Ellington contributed four songs to &lt;i>Chocolate Kiddies&lt;/i>, an all-African-American revue which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. "Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra" grew to a ten-piece organization; they developed their distinct sound by displaying the non-traditional expression of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealing trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. For a short time soprano saxophonist &lt;a href="/wiki/Sidney_Bechet" title="Sidney Bechet">Sidney Bechet&lt;/a> played with the group, imparting his propulsive swing and superior musicianship on the young band members. This helped attract the attention of some of the biggest names of jazz, including &lt;a href="/wiki/Paul_Whiteman" title="Paul Whiteman">Paul Whiteman&lt;/a>.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In 1927 &lt;a href="/wiki/King_Oliver" title="King Oliver" class="mw-redirect">King Oliver&lt;/a> turned down a regular booking for his group as the house band at Harlem's &lt;a href="/wiki/Cotton_Club" title="Cotton Club" class="mw-redirect">Cotton Club&lt;/a>; the offer passed to Ellington. With a weekly radio broadcast and famous white clientèle nightly pouring in to see them, Ellington and his band thrived in the period from 1932 to 1942 – a "golden age" for the band.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>He was joined in New York City by his wife, Edna Thompson, and son Mercer in the late twenties, but the couple soon permanently separated.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-18">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>19&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> According to her obituary in &lt;i>Jet&lt;/i> magazine, she was "[h]omesick for Washington" and returned (she died in 1967).&lt;sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-19">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>20&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Although trumpeter &lt;a href="/wiki/James_%22Bubber%22_Miley" title="James "Bubber" Miley">Bubber Miley&lt;/a> was a member of the orchestra for only a short period, he had a major influence on Ellington's sound.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-schuller_20-0" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-schuller-20">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>21&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> An early experimenter of growl trumpet, his style changed the "sweet" dance band sound of the group to one that was hotter, which contemporaries termed 'jungle' style. He also composed most of "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "&lt;a href="/wiki/Creole_Love_Call" title="Creole Love Call">Creole Love Call&lt;/a>". An alcoholic, Miley had to leave the band before they gained wider fame. He died in 1932 at the age of twenty-nine. He was an important influence on &lt;a href="/wiki/Cootie_Williams" title="Cootie Williams">Cootie Williams&lt;/a>, who replaced him.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>In 1927 Ellington made a career-advancing agreement with agent-publisher &lt;a href="/wiki/Irving_Mills" title="Irving Mills">Irving Mills&lt;/a>, giving Mills a 45% interest in Ellington's future.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-21">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>22&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Mills had an eye for new talent and early on published compositions by &lt;a href="/wiki/Hoagy_Carmichael" title="Hoagy Carmichael">Hoagy Carmichael&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Dorothy_Fields" title="Dorothy Fields">Dorothy Fields&lt;/a>, and &lt;a href="/wiki/Harold_Arlen" title="Harold Arlen">Harold Arlen&lt;/a>. During the 1930s Ellington's popularity continued to increase – largely as a result of the promotional skills of Mills – who got more than his fair share of co-composer credits. Mills arranged recording sessions on the Brunswick, Victor, and Columbia labels which gave Ellington popular recognition. Mills took the management burden off of Ellington's shoulders, allowing him to focus on his band's sound and his compositions.&lt;sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from January 2009" style="white-space:nowrap;">[&lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed&lt;/a>&lt;/i>]&lt;/sup> Ellington ended his association with Mills in 1937, although he continued to record under Mills' banner through to 1940.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>At the Cotton Club, Ellington's group performed all the music for the revues, which mixed comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, music, and illegal alcohol. The musical numbers were composed by &lt;a href="/wiki/Jimmy_McHugh" title="Jimmy McHugh">Jimmy McHugh&lt;/a> and the lyrics by &lt;a href="/wiki/Dorothy_Fields" title="Dorothy Fields">Dorothy Fields&lt;/a> (later &lt;a href="/wiki/Harold_Arlen" title="Harold Arlen">Harold Arlen&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Ted_Koehler" title="Ted Koehler">Ted Koehler&lt;/a>), with some Ellington originals mixed in. Weekly radio broadcasts from the club gave Ellington national exposure. In 1929 Ellington appeared in his first movie, a nineteen-minute all-African-American RKO short, &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Black_and_Tan_(film)" title="Black and Tan (film)" class="mw-redirect">Black and Tan&lt;/a>&lt;/i>, in which he played the hero "Duke". In the same year, The Cotton Club Orchestra appeared on stage for several months in &lt;a href="/wiki/Florenz_Ziegfeld" title="Florenz Ziegfeld">Florenz Ziegfeld&lt;/a>'s &lt;i>Show Girl&lt;/i>, along with vaudeville stars &lt;a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Durante" title="Jimmy Durante">Jimmy Durante&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Eddie_Foy,_Jr." title="Eddie Foy, Jr.">Eddie Foy, Jr.&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Al_Jolson" title="Al Jolson">Al Jolson&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Ruby_Keeler" title="Ruby Keeler">Ruby Keeler&lt;/a>, and with music and lyrics by &lt;a href="/wiki/George_Gershwin" title="George Gershwin">George Gershwin&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Gus_Kahn" title="Gus Kahn">Gus Kahn&lt;/a>. That feverish period also included numerous recordings, under the pseudonyms "Whoopee Makers", "The Jungle Band", "Harlem Footwarmers", and the "Ten Black Berries". In 1930 Ellington and his Orchestra connected with a whole different audience in a concert with &lt;a href="/wiki/Maurice_Chevalier" title="Maurice Chevalier">Maurice Chevalier&lt;/a> and they also performed at the &lt;a href="/wiki/Roseland_Ballroom" title="Roseland Ballroom">Roseland Ballroom&lt;/a>, "America's foremost ballroom". Noted composer &lt;a href="/wiki/Percy_Grainger" title="Percy Grainger">Percy Grainger&lt;/a> was also an early admirer and supporter.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In 1929, when Ellington conducted the orchestra for &lt;i>Show Girl&lt;/i>, he met &lt;a href="/wiki/Will_Vodery" title="Will Vodery">Will Vodery&lt;/a>, Ziegfeld’s musical supervisor. In his 1946 biography, &lt;i>Duke Ellington&lt;/i>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Barry_Ulanov" title="Barry Ulanov">Barry Ulanov&lt;/a> wrote:&lt;/p>
&lt;blockquote class="templatequote">
&lt;div>From Vodery, as he (Ellington) says himself, he drew his &lt;a href="/wiki/Chromatic_scale" title="Chromatic scale">chromatic&lt;/a> convictions, his uses of the tones ordinarily extraneous to the &lt;a href="/wiki/Diatonic_scale" title="Diatonic scale">diatonic scale&lt;/a>, with the consequent alteration of the harmonic character of his music, its broadening, The deepening of his resources. It has become customary to ascribe the classical influences upon Duke - &lt;a href="/wiki/Frederick_Delius" title="Frederick Delius">Delius&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Claude_Debussy" title="Claude Debussy">Debussy&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Maurice_Ravel" title="Maurice Ravel">Ravel&lt;/a> - to direct contact with their music. Actually his serious appreciation of those and other modern composers, came after his meeting with Vodery.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-22">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>23&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/div>

&lt;/blockquote>
&lt;p>As the Depression worsened, the recording industry was in crisis, dropping over 90% of its artists by 1933.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-23">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>24&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Ellington and his orchestra survived the hard times by taking to the road in a series of tours. Radio exposure also helped maintain popularity. &lt;a href="/wiki/Ivie_Anderson" title="Ivie Anderson">Ivie Anderson&lt;/a> was hired as their featured vocalist. Sonny Greer had been providing occasional vocals and continued to do in a cross-talk feature with Anderson. Ellington, however, later had many different vocalists, including Herb Jeffries (until 1943) and Al Hibbler (who replaced Jeffries in 1943 and continued until 1951).&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington led the orchestra by conducting from the keyboard using piano cues and visual gestures; very rarely did he conduct using a baton. As a bandleader Ellington was not a strict disciplinarian; he maintained control of his orchestra with a crafty combination of charm, humor, flattery, and astute psychology. A complex, private person, he revealed his feelings to only his closest intimates and effectively used his public persona to deflect attention away from himself.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>While their United States audience remained mainly African-American in this period, the Cotton Club had a near-exclusive white clientèle and the band had a huge following overseas, demonstrated both in a trip to England in 1933 and a 1934 visit to the European mainland. The English visit saw Ellington win praise from members of the 'serious' music community, including composer &lt;a href="/wiki/Constant_Lambert" title="Constant Lambert">Constant Lambert&lt;/a>, which gave a boost to Ellington's aspiration to compose longer works. For agent Mills it was a publicity triumph, as Ellington was now internationally known. On their tour through the segregated South in 1934, they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African-Americans by touring in private railcars&#160;; which provided easy accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment while avoiding the indignities of segregated facilities.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>The death of Ellington's mother in 1935 led to a temporary hiatus in his career. Competition was also intensifying, as African-American and white swing bands began to receive popular attention, including those of &lt;a href="/wiki/Benny_Goodman" title="Benny Goodman">Benny Goodman&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Tommy_Dorsey" title="Tommy Dorsey">Tommy Dorsey&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Dorsey" title="Jimmy Dorsey">Jimmy Dorsey&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Jimmie_Lunceford" title="Jimmie Lunceford">Jimmie Lunceford&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Benny_Carter" title="Benny Carter">Benny Carter&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Earl_Hines" title="Earl Hines">Earl Hines&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Chick_Webb" title="Chick Webb">Chick Webb&lt;/a>, and &lt;a href="/wiki/Count_Basie" title="Count Basie">Count Basie&lt;/a>. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and "danceability" drove record sales and bookings. &lt;a href="/wiki/Jukebox" title="Jukebox">Jukeboxes&lt;/a> proliferated nationwide, spreading the gospel of "swing". Ellington band could certainly swing, but Ellington's strength was mood and nuance, and richness of composition, hence his statement "jazz is music; swing is business".&lt;sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-24">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>25&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Ellington countered with two developments. He made recordings of smaller groups (sextets, octets, and nonets) drawn from his then-15-man orchestra and he composed pieces intended to feature specific instrumentalist, as with "Jeep's Blues" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Johnny_Hodges" title="Johnny Hodges">Johnny Hodges&lt;/a>, "Yearning for Love" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Lawrence_Brown_(musician)" title="Lawrence Brown (musician)">Lawrence Brown&lt;/a>, "Trumpet in Spades" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Rex_Stewart" title="Rex Stewart">Rex Stewart&lt;/a>, "Echoes of Harlem" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Cootie_Williams" title="Cootie Williams">Cootie Williams&lt;/a> and "Clarinet Lament" for &lt;a href="/wiki/Barney_Bigard" title="Barney Bigard">Barney Bigard&lt;/a>.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In 1937 Ellington returned to the Cotton Club which had relocated to the mid-town theater district. In the summer of that year, his father died, and due to many expenses, Ellington's finances were tight. Things improved in 1938 and he met and moved in with Cotton Club employee Beatrice "Evie" Ellis. After splitting with agent Irving Mills, he signed on with the &lt;a href="/wiki/William_Morris_Agency" title="William Morris Agency" class="mw-redirect">William Morris Agency&lt;/a>. The 1930s ended with a very successful European tour just as World War II loomed.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington delivered some huge hits during the 1930s, which greatly helped to build his overall reputation. Some of them include: "&lt;a href="/wiki/Mood_Indigo" title="Mood Indigo">Mood Indigo&lt;/a>" (1930), "&lt;a href="/wiki/It_Don%27t_Mean_a_Thing_(If_It_Ain%27t_Got_That_Swing)" title="It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)">It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)&lt;/a>" (1932), "&lt;a href="/wiki/Sophisticated_Lady" title="Sophisticated Lady">Sophisticated Lady&lt;/a>" (1933), "&lt;a href="/wiki/(In_My)_Solitude" title="(In My) Solitude">Solitude&lt;/a>" (1934), "&lt;a href="/wiki/In_a_Sentimental_Mood" title="In a Sentimental Mood">In a Sentimental Mood&lt;/a>" (1935), "&lt;a href="/wiki/Caravan_(song)" title="Caravan (song)">Caravan&lt;/a>" (1937), "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart" (1938). "&lt;a href="/wiki/Take_the_%22A%22_Train" title="Take the "A" Train">Take the "A" Train&lt;/a>" which hit big in 1941, was written by &lt;a href="/wiki/Billy_Strayhorn" title="Billy Strayhorn">Billy Strayhorn&lt;/a>.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Strayhorn, originally hired as a lyricist, began his association with Ellington in 1939.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-25">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>26&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, Strayhorn soon became a vital member of the Ellington Organization. Ellington showed great fondness for Strayhorn and never failed to speak glowingly of the man and their collaborative working relationship, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine".&lt;sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-26">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>27&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> Strayhorn, with his training in classical music, not only contributed his original lyrics and music, but also arranged and polished many of Ellington's works, becoming a second Ellington or "Duke's doppelganger". It was not uncommon for Strayhorn to fill in for Duke, whether in conducting or rehearsing the band, playing the piano, on stage, and in the recording studio.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-27">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>28&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
&lt;h3>&lt;span class="editsection">[&lt;a href="/w/index.php?title=Duke_Ellington&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4" title="Edit section: Duke in the 1940s">edit&lt;/a>]&lt;/span> &lt;span class="mw-headline" id="Duke_in_the_1940s">Duke in the 1940s&lt;/span>&lt;/h3>

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&lt;div class="thumbinner" style="width:182px;">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Duke_Ellington_at_the_Hurricane_Club_1943.jpg" class="image">&lt;img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0f/Duke_Ellington_at_the_Hurricane_Club_1943.jpg/180px-Duke_Ellington_at_the_Hurricane_Club_1943.jpg" width="180" height="227" class="thumbimage" />&lt;/a>
&lt;div class="thumbcaption">
&lt;div class="magnify">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Duke_Ellington_at_the_Hurricane_Club_1943.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge">&lt;img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" />&lt;/a>&lt;/div>
Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club in New York, May 1943&lt;/div>
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&lt;p>The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington and a small hand-picked group of his composers and arrangers wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices who displayed tremendous creativity.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-28">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>29&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Some of the musicians created a sensation in their own right. The short-lived &lt;a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Blanton" title="Jimmy Blanton">Jimmy Blanton&lt;/a> transformed the use of &lt;a href="/wiki/Double_Bass" title="Double Bass" class="mw-redirect">double bass&lt;/a> in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo rather than a rhythm instrument alone. &lt;a href="/wiki/Ben_Webster" title="Ben Webster">Ben Webster&lt;/a>, the Orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist, started a rivalry with Johnny Hodges as the Orchestra's foremost voice in the sax section. &lt;a href="/wiki/Ray_Nance" title="Ray Nance">Ray Nance&lt;/a> joined, replacing &lt;a href="/wiki/Cootie_Williams" title="Cootie Williams">Cootie Williams&lt;/a> (who had "defected", contemporary wags claimed, to &lt;a href="/wiki/Benny_Goodman" title="Benny Goodman">Benny Goodman&lt;/a>). Nance, however, added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Three-minute masterpieces flowed from the minds of Ellington, &lt;a href="/wiki/Billy_Strayhorn" title="Billy Strayhorn">Billy Strayhorn&lt;/a>, Ellington's son &lt;a href="/wiki/Mercer_Ellington" title="Mercer Ellington">Mercer Ellington&lt;/a>,&lt;a href="/wiki/Mary_Lou_Williams" title="Mary Lou Williams">Mary Lou Williams&lt;/a> and members of the Orchestra. "&lt;a href="/wiki/Cotton_Tail" title="Cotton Tail">Cotton Tail&lt;/a>", "Main Stem", "Harlem Airshaft", "Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side)" "Walkin' and Swingin'" and dozens of others date from this period.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Privately made recordings of Nance's first concert date, at &lt;a href="/wiki/Fargo,_North_Dakota" title="Fargo, North Dakota">Fargo, North Dakota&lt;/a>, on November 7, 1940 by Jack Towers and Dick Burris, are probably the most effective display of the band during this period. These recordings are among the first of innumerable live performances which survive, made by enthusiasts or broadcasters, significantly expanding the Ellington discography.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington's long-term aim became to extend the jazz form from the three-minute limit of the &lt;a href="/wiki/Gramophone_record" title="Gramophone record">78 rpm record&lt;/a> side, of which he was an acknowledged master.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-29">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>30&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> He had composed and recorded &lt;i>Creole Rhapsody&lt;/i> as early as 1931 (issued as both sides of 12" record for Victor and both sides of a 10" record for Brunswick), and his tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo," had filled four 10" record sides in 1935; however, it was not until the 1940s that this became a regular feature of Ellington's work.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with &lt;a href="/wiki/European_Classical_music" title="European Classical music" class="mw-redirect">classical music&lt;/a> than Ellington. The first of these, "&lt;a href="/wiki/Black,_Brown,_and_Beige" title="Black, Brown, and Beige" class="mw-redirect">Black, Brown, and Beige&lt;/a>" (1943), was dedicated to telling the story of &lt;a href="/wiki/African-Americans" title="African-Americans" class="mw-redirect">African-Americans&lt;/a>, and the place of slavery and the church in their history. Ellington debuted &lt;i>Black, Brown and Beige&lt;/i> in &lt;a href="/wiki/Carnegie_Hall" title="Carnegie Hall">Carnegie Hall&lt;/a> on January 23, 1943, beginning a series of concerts there suited to displaying Ellington's longer works. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, few had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington’s work.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well-received; &lt;i>Jump for Joy&lt;/i>, a musical which debuted in 1941, closed after only six performances .&lt;/p>

&lt;p>The settlement of the &lt;a href="/wiki/1942-43_musicians%27_strike" title="1942-43 musicians' strike" class="mw-redirect">first recording ban of 1942–43&lt;/a> had a serious effect on all the big bands because of the increase in royalty payments to musicians which resulted from it. The financial viability of Ellington's Orchestra came under threat, though Ellington's income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized it. Ellington always spent lavishly and although he drew a respectable income from the Orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-30">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>31&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>
&lt;p>The music industry's focus shifted away from the Big Bands to the work of solo vocalists such as the young &lt;a href="/wiki/Frank_Sinatra" title="Frank Sinatra">Frank Sinatra&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Ella_Fitzgerald" title="Ella Fitzgerald">Ella Fitzgerald&lt;/a>, &lt;a href="/wiki/Billie_Holliday" title="Billie Holliday" class="mw-redirect">Billie Holliday&lt;/a> and mainstream groups like &lt;a href="/wiki/The_Andrews_Sisters" title="The Andrews Sisters">The Andrews Sisters&lt;/a> as World War II drew to a close. While Ellington had featured some of the most talented singers of the day fronting his orchestra, he and his band took a back seat to no one, which set him down a path that put him increasingly at odds with the growing recording industry which was profiting from celebrity singers who were cheaper to keep than a big band, and produced bigger revenues.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>By the mid 1940s artists were creatively changing. One of Ellington's composer-arrangers, &lt;a href="/wiki/Mary_Lou_Williams" title="Mary Lou Williams">Mary Lou Williams&lt;/a>, left Ellington in 1943 and by 1945 was working with Dizzy Gillespie on a new form of jazz music, "Bebop."&lt;/p>
&lt;p>&lt;a href="/wiki/Bebop" title="Bebop">Bebop&lt;/a> rebelled against mainstream jazz, and dancing to jazz, and the strict forms of which Ellington was perhaps its most well known standard-bearer. The music, which had redefined the American sound over 35 years, was about to be shaken up.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>It would take another ten years for Bebop to really begin catching on with jazz aficionados world-wide, but it was an early hit with club owners of smaller venues who could draw the jazz form's growing audiences in New York City at a fraction of the cost of hosting a big band, particularly one of Ellington's calliber. Newer, smaller bands and splinter forms of music increasingly put pressure on the bigger clubs who paid out increasingly more to maintain their big bands. Ellington's elite band was a costly enterprise that, along with his excessive personal spending, always teetered on the brink of break-even. The new music trends eventually pushed it over the edge and put Ellington out on the road in search of venues that could afford to showcase his music.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Bebop was also a huge shift for young talent, from &lt;a href="/wiki/Charlie_Parker" title="Charlie Parker">Charlie Parker&lt;/a> to &lt;a href="/wiki/John_Coltrane" title="John Coltrane">John Coltrane&lt;/a> to &lt;a href="/wiki/Thelonious_Monk" title="Thelonious Monk">Thelonious Monk&lt;/a> who did not embrace Big Band and sought out new creative frontiers, redefining "modern" jazz music forever. Ellington did not recruit or embrace these new artists and change with the times.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>In 1950 another emerging musical trend, the African-American popular music style known as &lt;a href="/wiki/Rhythm_and_Blues" title="Rhythm and Blues" class="mw-redirect">Rhythm and Blues&lt;/a> driven by a new generation of composers and musicians like &lt;a href="/wiki/Fats_Domino" title="Fats Domino">Fats Domino&lt;/a> and &lt;a href="/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Morton" title="Jelly Roll Morton">Jelly Roll Morton&lt;/a> drew away young audiences from both the African-American and white communities, and ultimately unified those audiences as R&amp;B morphed into &lt;a href="/wiki/Rock_%26_Roll" title="Rock &amp; Roll" class="mw-redirect">Rock &amp; Roll&lt;/a> which expanded the cults of the singers from the Big Band era to the singer/songwriters from Domino to &lt;a href="/wiki/Elvis_Presley" title="Elvis Presley">Elvis Presley&lt;/a> to &lt;a href="/wiki/Buddy_Holly" title="Buddy Holly">Buddy Holly&lt;/a>. Again, Ellington did not embrace the new musical form, leaving him further in the growing dust cloud of musical history.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Ellington continued on his own course through these tectonic shifts in the music business. He did not wholly resist trends while trying to turn out major works. The &lt;a href="/wiki/Kay_Davis" title="Kay Davis">Kay Davis&lt;/a> vocal feature "Transblucency" was an attempt to cater to the singer-centric music world. He still performed major extended compositions such as &lt;i>Harlem&lt;/i> (1950), whose score he presented to music-loving President &lt;a href="/wiki/Harry_Truman" title="Harry Truman" class="mw-redirect">Harry Truman&lt;/a>, but these works were rapidly becoming reflections of his greatness in the 1930s and 1940s, and not ground-breaking works that rattled the music world back into the Big Band camp.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>In 1951, Ellington suffered a major loss of personnel, with Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and most significantly &lt;a href="/wiki/Johnny_Hodges" title="Johnny Hodges">Johnny Hodges&lt;/a>, leaving to pursue other ventures. Lacking overseas opportunities and motion picture appearances, Ellington's Orchestra survived on "one-nighters" and whatever else came their way.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>By the summer of 1955 the band was performing for six weeks at the Aquacade in &lt;a href="/wiki/Flushing,_Queens" title="Flushing, Queens">Flushing&lt;/a>, New York, where Ellington is supposed to have "invented" a drink known as "The Tornado," the only alcoholic concoction that features his signature &lt;a href="/wiki/Coca-Cola" title="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola&lt;/a> and sugar.&lt;sup class="Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from November 2009" style="white-space:nowrap;">[&lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed&lt;/a>&lt;/i>]&lt;/sup>&lt;/p>

&lt;p>Ellington had hoped that television would provide a significant new outlet for his type of jazz was not fulfilled. Tastes and trends had moved on without him. The introduction of the 33 1/3 rpm LP record and hi-fi phonograph though, did give new life to many of his older compositions. However by 1955, after three years of recording for &lt;a href="/wiki/Capitol_Records" title="Capitol Records">Capitol&lt;/a>, Ellington no longer had a regular recording affiliation.&lt;/p>
&lt;div class="thumb tleft">
&lt;div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Duke_Ellington_-_Time_Magazine_cover_-_Aug_20,_1956.jpg" class="image">&lt;img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/Duke_Ellington_-_Time_Magazine_cover_-_Aug_20%2C_1956.jpg/200px-Duke_Ellington_-_Time_Magazine_cover_-_Aug_20%2C_1956.jpg" width="200" height="264" class="thumbimage" />&lt;/a>
&lt;div class="thumbcaption">
&lt;div class="magnify">&lt;a href="/wiki/File:Duke_Ellington_-_Time_Magazine_cover_-_Aug_20,_1956.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge">&lt;img src="http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15" height="11" alt="" />&lt;/a>&lt;/div>
The August 20, 1956 cover of &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Time_magazine" title="Time magazine" class="mw-redirect">Time&lt;/a>&lt;/i> featured Ellington.&lt;/div>
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&lt;h3>&lt;span class="editsection">[&lt;a href="/w/index.php?title=Duke_Ellington&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5" title="Edit section: Career revival">edit&lt;/a>]&lt;/span> &lt;span class="mw-headline" id="Career_revival">Career revival&lt;/span>&lt;/h3>

&lt;p>The music business' increasing factionization into this or that specific form of rock-and-roll, country, bluegrass, or jazz broke down into even more sub-sets, and opened the door for the second act in Duke Ellington's amazing career. An international fascination with Jazz re-opened the door at record labels to artists like Ellington and &lt;a href="/wiki/Louis_Armstrong" title="Louis Armstrong">Louis Armstrong&lt;/a> who had found themselves out of step with the times for the last half-decade. The Ellington who was too big or too proud to change would now appear with a variety of artists from the different jazz forms.&lt;/p>
&lt;p>Ellington's appearance at the &lt;a href="/wiki/Newport_Jazz_Festival" title="Newport Jazz Festival">Newport Jazz Festival&lt;/a> on July 7, 1956 returned him to wider prominence and exposed him to new audiences. The feature "&lt;a href="/wiki/Diminuendo_and_Crescendo_in_Blue" title="Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue">Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue&lt;/a>", with saxophonist &lt;a href="/wiki/Paul_Gonsalves" title="Paul Gonsalves">Paul Gonsalves&lt;/a>'s six-minute saxophone solo, had been in the band's book since 1937, but on this occasion nearly created a riot. The revived attention should not have surprised anyone – Hodges had returned to the fold the previous year, and Ellington's collaboration with Strayhorn had been renewed around the same time, under terms more amenable to the younger man. &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Such_Sweet_Thunder" title="Such Sweet Thunder">Such Sweet Thunder&lt;/a>&lt;/i> (1957), based on &lt;a href="/wiki/William_Shakespeare" title="William Shakespeare">Shakespeare's&lt;/a> plays and characters, and &lt;i>The Queen's Suite&lt;/i>, dedicated to &lt;a href="/wiki/Elizabeth_II_of_the_United_Kingdom" title="Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom" class="mw-redirect">Queen Elizabeth II&lt;/a>, were products of the renewed impetus which the Newport appearance helped to create.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>A new record contract with Columbia produced Ellington's best-selling LP &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Ellington_at_Newport" title="Ellington at Newport">Ellington at Newport&lt;/a>&lt;/i> and yielded six years of recording stability under producer &lt;a href="/wiki/Irving_Townsend" title="Irving Townsend">Irving Townsend&lt;/a>, who coaxed both commercial and artistic productions from Ellington.&lt;sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference">&lt;a href="#cite_note-31">&lt;span>[&lt;/span>32&lt;span>]&lt;/span>&lt;/a>&lt;/sup> In 1957, CBS (Columbia's parent corporation) aired a live television production of &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/A_Drum_Is_a_Woman" title="A Drum Is a Woman">A Drum Is a Woman&lt;/a>&lt;/i>, an allegorical suite which received mixed reviews. Festival appearances at the new &lt;a href="/wiki/Monterey_Jazz_Festival" title="Monterey Jazz Festival">Monterey Jazz Festival&lt;/a> and elsewhere provided venues for live exposure, and a European tour in 1958 was wildly received.&lt;/p>

&lt;p>After a 25-year gap, Ellington (with Strayhorn) returned to work on film scores, this time for &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Anatomy_of_a_Murder" title="Anatomy of a Murder">Anatomy of a Murder&lt;/a>&lt;/i> (1959) and &lt;i>&lt;a href="/wiki/Paris_

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