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Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

Duke Ellington (b. Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, Washington, DC–d. May 24, 1974, New York, NY) was a composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader. He began piano lessons at 7 and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag", in 1914. Ellington became a more serious piano student as a teenager after hearing poolroom pianists in Washington, DC.

Ellington moved to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s. He began a regular booking at the Cotton Club in 1927 which escalated him and his jazz orchestra to fame. He enjoyed a successful career through the 1940s but in the early 1950s his style was seen as outmoded. Performing at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956 returned him to wider prominence and introduced him to a new generation of fans.

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