Edward Kennedy Ellington was born and raised in Washington D.C.’s West End neighborhood. Brought up in a proud family of amateur musicians, Ellington carried himself with a refined grace and sharp wardrobe that earned him a lifelong nickname: “Duke.”
The young “Duke” was influenced by ragtime and stride pianists, teaching himself harmony and embarking on a playing career at 17.
Ellington moved to New York’s Harlem in the 1920’s and, after fits and starts, the young bandleader started recording for a myriad of labels and secured a defining residency at the famed ”Cotton Club”… a night spot fueled by the talent of the Harlem Renaissance, but intended for white-only audiences. But it was there that Ellington was able to develop and sharpen his compositional style, beginning to blend jazz call-and-response and blues with careful orchestration and the use of more ambitious forms--- through the 1930’s and 1940’s---and leading to the concert hall.
Such larger projects included the symphonic suites Harlem and Black, Brown, and Beige ("a Tone Parallel to the History of the Negro in America")… the ballets The River and Three Black Kings,,, and the film scores “Paris Blues” and “Anatomy of a Murder.”
Ellington considered his music "beyond category": part of a larger American music. And he certainly had fans in the classical world: composer Percy Grainger considered the three greatest composers to be Bach, Delius, and Ellington.
In 1965, the Pulitzer Prize music jury recommended Ellington for the honor, but in a highly controversial decision no prize for music was awarded. Quipped Ellington, “Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.”
Perhaps in answer, in 1969 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“The Duke” finally was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music… posthumously… in 1999.
Edward Kennedy Ellington… Classically Black.
