Duke Ellington oral history, 1939-1987 (inclusive).

ArchivalResource

Duke Ellington oral history, 1939-1987 (inclusive).

1939-1987

The Duke Ellington Oral History is comprised of ninety-two interviews with and about Ellington, one of America's greatest composers. Included among the interviewees are musicians, family members, friends, and colleagues. A series on Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's longtime close collaborator, is also included.

6 linear ft.

eng, Latn

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8022182

Yale University Library

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There are 103 Entities related to this resource.

Weston, Randy, 1926-2018

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rw1fqs (person)

Randy Weston was born on April 6, 1926 to Vivian and Frank Weston in Brooklyn, New York. He studied classical piano as a child and was raised in an atmosphere thick with sounds and ideas of modern jazz. Among his childhood friends and neighbors were bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik and drummers Al Harewood and Max Roach; it was at Max Roach's house that Weston would encounter George Russell, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. His father owned a small restaurant in Brooklyn, which was a hangout for many l...

Blake, Eubie, 1887-1983

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Jazz composer and pianist. From the description of Autograph card signed : [New York?], 1979 Jan. 24. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270904411 American ragtime pianist and composer. From the description of Autograph note signed with his initials on his visiting card, dated : [Brooklyn, N.Y., n.d., 1963-1983], to an unidentified recipient, [1963-1983]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270899295 American composer. From the description of Eub...

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Terry, Clark

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Taylor, Billy, 1921-2010

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BillyTaylor (b. July 24, 1921, in Greenville, North Carolina; d. Dec. 28, 2010, in New York City) was an American jazz pianist, composer, educator, broadcaster, lecturer, and advocate. From the description of Billy Taylor papers, 1942-2004. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 744987035 Biographical Note 1921, July 24 Born, Greenville, North Carolina, to William Edward Taylor...

Sherrill, Joya, 1927-2010

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wn25vg (person)

Strayhorn, Carole Keeton, 1939-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q061sb (person)

Carole Stewart Keeton (born September 13, 1939), formerly known as Carole Keeton McClellan, Carole Keeton Rylander and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is an American educator and politician. She served as the 49th Mayor of Austin, Texas from 1977 to 1983, as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 1994 to 1999, and as the 36th Comptroller of Texas from 1999 to 2007. She was the first woman elected to each of these positions. Born in Austin, she attended the University of Texas at Austin. She ...

Hovhaness, Alan, 1911–2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62c9pqb (person)

American composer of Armenian-Scottish descent. From the description of Interview conducted by Oliver Daniel, Sept. 13, 1980 [sound recording]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155862291 From the description of Interview conducted by Oliver Daniel, [Apr. 8, 1977] [sound recording]. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155861703 Composer. From the description of Alan Hovhaness autograph letter to Serafina, 196...

Ellington, Mercer

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68q6r55 (person)

Brubeck, Dave

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American pianist, composer, and bandleader. From the description of Typewritten letter signed, dated Wilton, Conn., 1 August 1999, to Joan Peyser, 1999 Aug. 1. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270992201 David Warren "Dave" Brubeck (b. 1920), jazz pianist and composer, has enjoyed wide public acclaim in a career that spans the entire second half of the 20th century. A California native, he was early identified as an important proponent of the so-called "West Coast sound," a jaz...

Roach, Max, 1924-2007

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h52gwd (person)

Max Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, and Booker Little. He...

Strayhorn, Billy, 1915-1967

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mh8dtb (person)

William "Billy" Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio on November 29, 1915. He spent part of his childhood in Hillsborough, North Carolina. His family eventually moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he studied classical music at the Pittsburgh Musical Institution. At the age of 23, he submitted a musical composition titled "Something to Live For" to Duke Ellington, who subsequently recorded it with Strayhorn as the pianist. Strayhorn worked as the pianist in Mercer Ellington's orchestra for ...

Oliver, Sy, 1910-1988

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Melvin James ("Sy") Oliver was born December 17, 1910 in Battle Creek, Michigan. His family moved to Zanesville, Ohio while Oliver was still a child. Oliver absorbed music early in life (both parents were music teachers) and learned trumpet while still a child. By the age of 17 he became a member of the territory band led by Zack Whyte. During this time he taught himself arranging as a way of proving the viability of his harmonic theories. Around 1932 he was associated with Alphonso...

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

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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 Cott...

Tucker, Mark, 1954-2000

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf354n (person)

Norton, June.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pc5dz7 (person)

Strayhorn, Helen.

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Watkins, Tony

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Turney, Norris, 1921-2001

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Elliott, Lu

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Hamilton, Jimmy, 1917-1994

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Cole, Maria, 1922-2012

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Ibrahim, Abdullah, 1934-....

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Duvivier, George.

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Milnes, Harriett.

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Conaway, Robert.

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Morris, Gregory, Dr.

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Lewis, Elma

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Elma Lewis, arts educator, was born on September 15, 1921 in Boston Mass. Her parents, Clairmont and Edwardine Lewis, emigrated from the West Indies and both were followers of Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. As the founder of the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in 1950, she taught dance, drama, and speech therapy. In 1968 she founded the National Center of African-American Artists and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in 1969, bringi...

Moore, Anita, 1950-2001

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Hentoff, Nat

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Avakian, George, 1919-2017

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From the George Avakian and Anahid Ajemian papers, New York Public Library: George Mesrop Avakian (born 1919) is an American music producer, artist manager, writer, and educator best known for his work with artists such as Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, John Cage, Alan Hovhaness, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins, his wife Anahid Ajemian, and many other musicians and composers. Avakian was born in Armavir, Armenia, the oldest of three children of Mesrop Avakian. His brother was t...

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Brown, Lawrence, 1907-1988

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Hammond, John, 1910-1987

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Record producer. From the description of Oral history interview with John Hammond, 1975. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309737666 ...

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Amiri Baraka was born LeRoi Jones in Newark, New Jersey, in 1934. He was educated at Rutgers and Howard Universities, graduating from the latter at the age of 19. In 1958 he founded the influential poetry magazine Yugen, which ran until 1962. His writings, including fiction, essays, and poetry, appeared in such publications as The nation, Evergreen review, Downbeat, and The floating bear. From the description of Imamu Amiri Baraka papers, 1958-1982. (University of California, Berkele...

Sathima.

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Woodman, Britt

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James, Michael, 1944 August 23-

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Williams, Mary Lou, 1910-1981

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Jazz pianist, arranger, and composer in Durham (Durham Co.), N.C. Died May 28, 1981. From the description of Terry Sanford [music manuscript] 1979. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 53905922 ...

Middleton, Juanita.

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Smith, Jabbo, 1908-1991

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Cladys "Jabbo" Smith was born in Claxton, Ga.; Smith received his musical education at the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, S.C.; a brass player, singer and composer, Smith has been called "The Trumpet Ace of the '20's"--Thought by some jazz historians to have been Louis Armstrong's only serious competition in the late-1920s and early-1930s; Smith died 16 Jan. 1991, in Manhattan at age 82. From the description of Jabbo Smith papers, 1903-1991; (bulk, 1954-1991). (University of South ...

McPhail, Jimmy

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Okin, Earl

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Jones, Max, 1947-

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Hibbler, Al, 1915-2001

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Wimp, Kay Davis.

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Morrison, Peck

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Ulanov, Barry

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Logan, Marion.

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Hall, Barrie Lee, 1949-

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Gensel, John

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Williams, Francis, 1910-

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Henderson, Rick

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Joyce, John

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Metcalf, Louis

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Ashby, Harold

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Chertok, David

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Kerr, Brooks, 1951-2018

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dz2nnb (person)

Jazz pianist associated with Duke Ellington and band members....

Boatwright, Ruth Ellington, 1915-2004

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zd0f3c (person)

Born in 1915, Ruth Dorothea Ellington Boatwright was the sister and only sibling of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. Sheltered and doted upon, she was almost sixteen years younger than her brother. She attended elementary and junior high schools in the Washington Metropolitan area and finished her basic schooling in New York City where the family moved in the early 1930s. Her mother, Daisy, died there in 1935, followed by her father, J. E. in 1937. Sometime after those life altering events, Ms. ...

Tizol, Juan

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wq2m44 (person)

Ellington, Mercedes

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tb1xxc (person)

Dancer and choreographer Mercedes Ellington was born on February 9, 1939 in New York City to Ruth Silas Batts and trumpet player and conductor Mercer Ellington, son of renowned composer and bandleader Duke Ellington. Ellington was raised by her maternal grandparents Louise Petgrave Silas and Alfred Silas, who enrolled her in dance and ballet classes at an early age. Ellington received a scholarship to attend The Metropolitan Opera School of Ballet, but decided to enroll at The Julliard School at...

Dance, Helen Oakley, 1913-2001

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67w8rm5 (person)

Michelle, Louise.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jx0s4d (person)

Tizol, Rosebud.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bg5248 (person)

Tudor, David, 1926-1996

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g4501w (person)

American composer and performer of piano, multi-media and electronic music. By 1950 Tudor established his reputation as the leading exponent of the piano music of the American and European avante-gardes. From the description of David Tudor Papers, 1943-1989 (bulk 1950-1965). (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 80965755 David Tudor was an American pianist and electronic music composer. From the description of Recordings of David Tudor performances [sou...

McGettigan, Betty

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Henderson, Luther, 1919-2003

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60s12zh (person)

Luther Henderson (b. March 14, 1919, in Kansas City, Mo.; d. July 29, 2003, in New York City) was an arranger, orchestrator, conductor, music director, and composer. From the description of Luther Henderson papers, circa 1930-2003 (bulk 1960-1995). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 767826594 Biographical Note 1919, Mar. 14 Born, Kansas City, Mo. ...

Procope, Russell, 1908-1981

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Dicks, Lillian.

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Hall, Adelaide

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McVicker, Carl, 1904-1993

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Banks, Maurice.

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Ruff, Willie

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Ellington, Edward, Sir, 1877-1967

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Wiggins, Bernice Love, 1897-

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Jewell, Derek Parry

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Webster, Benjamin

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Epithet: actor, d 1947 British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000498.0x000109 Epithet: the younger writer of plays British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000623.0x00003a ...

Roché, Betty.

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Ailey, Alvin, 1931-1989

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Alvin Ailey (b. Jan. 5, 1931, Rogers, TX–d. Dec. 1, 1989, New York, NY) was an African-American choreographer and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City. He is credited with popularizing modern dance and revolutionizing African-American participation in 20th-century concert dance. In 1977, Ailey was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1988. In 2014, President Barack Obama selected Ailey to be a posthumous recip...

Valburn, Jerry

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Anderson, Ed, 1912-2002

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Epithet: of Add MS 4376 British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000923.0x00039d Epithet: of Broughton Title: 5th Baronet British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000001029.0x00000d ...

Driggs, Frank.

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Mills, Irving, 1894-1985

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Dance, Stanley, 1899-

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Pass, Joe, 1929-1994

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Towers, Jack

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Baron, Art

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Singer, Arthur 1870-1931

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Foundation executive. From the description of Reminiscences of Arthur Singer : oral history, 1969. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122681120 Arthur Singer was born December 4, 1917, in New York, NY, and died April 8, 1990, in Jericho, NY. He became a wildlife artist, specializing in birds. Biographical Source: Something About the Author, vol. 64. From the description of Arthur Singer Papers 1961. (University of Minnesota, Minnea...

Bell, Aaron, 1922-2003

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Demme, Ken.

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Diamond, Renee.

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Renee Diamond served in the Nevada assembly. From the description of [Renee Diamond Collection]. 1974-1985. (University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 437272662 ...

Grayson, Milt

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Gaskin, Victor

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Cook, Mercer, 1903-1987

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African American scholar, author, translator, diplomat, and Howard University faculty member; full name: Will Mercer Cook. From the description of Papers, 1890-1985 ; (bulk 1899-1981). (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 70939788 ...

Byard, Jaki

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Perlis, Vivian.

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Aaron Copland (1900-1990) ranks among the most widely respected of all American composers. Born in Brooklyn to a Russian Jewish family, Copland studied with Rubin Goldmark in New York and Nadia Boulanger in France. His music, which drew upon sources as disparate as jazz, neoclassicism, folk music, and serialism, helped establish an American musical vocabulary, and his most popular works, such as Appalachian Spring and Fanfare for the Common Man, have reached audiences far beyond the...

Taylor, Malcolm Stuart

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Sanders, John, 1925-

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