As a teenager, Duke Ellington made an early living as a dishwasher and then a sign-painter, but he had loved live bands from childhood, when his mother would dress him up for local dances and sit him on stage next to the musicians. read more
He was an outstanding arranger, and employed equally fine arrangers. He hired brilliant musicians to play his music. He pushed the boundaries of what was accepted as ‘permissible’ in jazz at the time, employing, for example, new harmonies and longer structures, but not so much so that he alienated listeners with more conservative tastes. read more
Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. read more