The Famous Duke Ellington

The Famous Duke Ellington

On April twenty-ninth of eighteen ninety-nine, in Washington, D.C. a well-known musician was born by the name of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. Duke Ellington was born into a middle class family. Duke's mother's name was Daisy Kennedy. Daisy Kennedy was the one who motivated Duke and had him to trusted that he could do anything he wanted to do, if he just kept it in his head that he could pursue any dream or obstacles that he had to really crushed Duke was when his mother, the one who motivated him the most, died in the nineteen sixty- four began piano lessons when he was seven years old and is first composition at the age of fourteen. His first piece of music was called "Soda Fountain Rag," this is around the time when he picked up his nickname "Duke." He got the nickname Duke because he had a love of fancy clothes and an elegant style. He was also known to be the hardest working man in show business. Duke got married to his high school love, Edna Thompson, who he later separated from but never got a divorce. Ellington's first publishing and recording debut was with "Choo Choo", where he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies for black revenue, a black he was working with. Duke was a bandleader of an ensemble when he worked at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Ellington's career as a bandleader lasted more than fifty years. This is when he started to increase the number of recordings they made and received some national radio broadcasts. From the years 1932-1942 was considered the "golden age" for Duke because this is when he had the best talent come through in his band. Musicians are among the major players in the history of jazz, reowned to be masters of their instruments. Some members of Duke's band later became famous also. Some of these people that received fame as a musician happened to be Jimmie Blanton who played double bass, Ben Webster who played the tenor saxophone, and Ray Nance who played the trumpet.

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