THE FOLK WHO FEEL JAZZ: DUKE ELLINGTON

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and bandleader.

Duke Ellington was recognized during his life as one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. His reputation has increased since his death, including a special award citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board.

Ellington called his style and sound "American Music" rather than jazz, and liked to describe those who impressed him as "beyond category." These included many of the musicians who served with his orchestra, some of whom were considered among the giants of jazz and performed with Ellington's orchestra for decades. While many were noteworthy in their own right, it was Ellington who melded them into one of the most well-known orchestral units in the history of jazz. He often composed specifically for the style and skills of these individuals, such as "Jeep's Blues" for Johnny Hodges, "Concerto for Cootie" ("Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me") for Cootie Williams and "The Mooche" for Tricky Sam Nanton. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and "Perdido" which brought the "Spanish Tinge" to big-band jazz. After 1941, he frequently collaborated with composer-arranger Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his alter-ego.

One of the 20th century's best-known artists, Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in several films. Ellington and his orchestra toured the United States and Europe regularly before and after World War II. Ellington led his band from 1923 until his death in 1974.

His son Mercer Ellington took over the band until his death from cancer in 1996. Paul Ellington, Mercer's youngest son, took over the Orchestra from there and after his mother's passing took over the Estate of Duke and Mercer Ellington.

Biography

Early life

Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. They lived with his maternal grandparents at 2129 Ward Place, NW in Washington, D.C. James Edward Ellington was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina on April 15, 1879 and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1886 with his parents. Daisy Kennedy, was born in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1879, and was the daughter of a former American slave. J.E. made blueprints for the United States Navy. He also worked as a butler for Dr. Middleton F. Cuthbert, a prominent white physician, and occasionally worked as a White House caterer. Daisy and J.E. were both piano players—she playing parlor songs and he operatic airs.

At the age of seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Mrs. Marietta Clinkscales. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women who reinforced his manners and taught him to live elegantly. From his father, he absorbed self-confidence. Ellington’s childhood friends noticed that "his casual, offhand manner, his easy grace, and his dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman", and began calling him Duke. Ellington credited his "chum" Edgar McEntree, "a sharp dresser himself," with the nickname. "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."

Though Ellington took piano lessons, he was more concerned with baseball. "President Roosevelt (Teddy) would come by on his horse sometimes, and stop and watch us play," he recalled. Ellington went to Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C. He got his first job selling peanuts at Washington Senators’ baseball games where he conquered his stage fright.

In the summer of 1914, while working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Café, he wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag"). Ellington created "Soda Fountain Rag" by ear, because he had not yet learned to read and write music. "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot," Ellington has recalled. "Listeners never knew it was the same piece. I was established as having my own repertoire." In his autobiography, Music is my Mistress, (1973) Ellington comments he missed more lessons than he attended, feeling at the time that playing the piano was not his talent. Over time, this would change. Ellington started sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom at age fourteen. Hearing the poolroom pianists play ignited Ellington's love for the instrument and he began to take his piano studies seriously.

Ellington began listening to, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D.C., but also in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, where he vacationed with his mother during the summer months. Dunbar High School music teacher Henry Lee Grant gave him private lessons in harmony. With the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry, Ellington learned to read sheet music, project a professional style, and improve his technique. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts, early jazz piano giants. Later in New York he took advice from Will Marion Cook, Fats Waller, and Sidney Bechet. Ellington started to play gigs in cafés and clubs in and around Washington, D.C. and began to realize his love for music. His attachment grew to be so strong that he turned down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1916. He dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art, just three months shy of graduation.

From 1917 through 1919, Ellington launched his musical career, painting commercial signs by day and playing piano by night. Duke's entrepreneurial side came out when if a customer would ask him to make a sign for a dance or party, he would ask them if they had musical entertainment, if not Ellington would ask if he could play for them. He also had a messenger job with the U.S. Navy and State Departments. Ellington moved out of his parents' home and into one which he bought for himself as he became a successful ragtime, jazz, and society pianist. At first, he played in other ensembles, and in late 1917 formed his first group, "The Duke’s Serenaders" ("Colored Syncopators", his telephone directory advertising proclaimed). He was not only a member, but also the booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall where he took home 75 cents.

Ellington played throughout the Washington, D.C. area and into Virginia for private society balls and embassy parties. The band included Otto Hardwick, who switched from bass to saxophone; Arthur Whetsol on trumpet; Elmer Snowden on banjo; and Sonny Greer on drums. The band thrived, performing for both African-American and white audiences, a rarity during the racially divided times.

Marriage and family

With his career taking off, Ellington felt secure enough to marry his high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson, on July 2, 1918 when he was 19. Shortly after their marriage, on March 11, 1919 Edna gave birth to their only son, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, who went on to play trumpet, lead his own band and work as the road manager of his father's band, eventually taking it over after Duke's death. He was an important archivist of his father's musical life. Ellington's sister, Ruth, later ran Tempo Music, Ellington's music publishing company.

Ellington's granddaughter Mercedes is a dancer who has performed in network television productions. Grandson Paul Ellington is a pianist and composer who now leads the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Early career

(Labels he recorded for: Blu-Disc, Pathe, Gennett, Vocalion, Brunswick, Columbia, Victor, OKeh, Harmony, Diva, Velvet Tone, Clarion, Cameo, Romeo, Lincoln, Perfect, etc., Banner, Conqueror, Domino, Oriole, Regal, Jewel etc., Hit Of The Week, Melotone, Decca, Master & Variety, Musicraft, Impulse!, Verve, Pablo).

When his drummer Sonny Greer was invited to join the Wilber Sweatman Orchestra in New York City, Ellington made the fateful decision to leave behind his successful career in Washington, D.C. and aspire to the challenge of Harlem. The 'Harlem Renaissance' was in progress. New dance crazes, like the Charleston, were bred there as well as African-American musical theater, including Eubie Blake's Shuffle Along. After the young musicians left the Sweatman Orchestra to strike out on their own, they found an emerging jazz scene that was highly competitive and hard to crack. They hustled pool by day and played whatever gig they could find. The young band met Willie "The Lion" Smith who showed them the scene and even gave them spare cash. They played at rent-house parties to get by. After a few months, the young musicians returned to Washington, D.C. feeling discouraged.

But in June 1923, a gig in Atlantic City, New Jersey led to a play date at the prestigious Exclusive Club in Harlem, followed in September 1923 by a move to the Hollywood Club, 49th and Broadway, and a four-year engagement which gave Ellington a solid artistic base. The group was called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra and had seven members, including James "Bubber" Miley, a trumpeter whose growling style changed the "sweet" dance band sound of the group to one that was edgier and hotter. They renamed themselves "The Washingtonians". When Snowden left the group in early 1924, Ellington took over as bandleader. After a fire, the club was re-opened as the Club Kentucky (often referred to as the "Kentucky Club"), an engagement which set the stage for the biggest opportunities in Ellington's life.

Ellington made eight records in 1924, receiving composing credit on three including Choo Choo. In 1925, Ellington contributed four songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-African-American revue which introduced European audiences to African-American styles and performers. "Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra" grew to a ten-piece organization, developing their distinct sound, displaying the non-traditional expression of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealing trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. For a short time, the great soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet played with the group, imparting his propulsive swing and superior musicianship on the young band members. This helped attract the attention of some of the biggest names of jazz, including Paul Whiteman.

In 1927, King Oliver turned down a regular booking for his group as the house band at Harlem's Cotton Club; the offer passed to Ellington. With a weekly radio broadcast and famous clientèle nightly pouring in to see them, Ellington and his band thrived in the period from 1932 to 1942, a "golden age" for the poor boys from Washington D.C.

Trumpeter Bubber Miley was a member of the orchestra for only a short period but had a major influence on Ellington's sound. An early experimenter in jazz trumpet growling, Miley is credited with morphing the band's style from rigid dance instrumentation to a growling 'jungle' style. He also composed most of "Black and Tan Fantasy" and "Creole Love Call". An alcoholic, Miley had to leave the band before they gained wider fame. He died in 1932 at the age of twenty-nine. He was an important influence on Cootie Williams, who replaced him.

In 1927 Ellington made a career-advancing agreement with agent-publisher Irving Mills giving Mills a 45% interest in Ellington's future. The brash, shrewd Mills had an eye for new talent and early on published compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, and Harold Arlen. During the 1930s, Ellington's popularity continued to increase, largely as a result of the promotional skills of Mills, who got more than his fair share of co-composer credits. Mills arranged recording sessions on the Brunswick, Victor, and Columbia labels which gave Ellington popular recognition. Mills took the management burden off of Ellington's shoulders, allowing him to focus on his band's sound and his compositions. Ellington ended his association with Mills in 1937, although he continued to record under Mills' banner through 1940.

At the Cotton Club, Ellington's group performed all the music for the revues, which mixed comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, hot music, and illegal alcohol. The musical numbers were composed by Jimmy McHugh and the lyrics by Dorothy Fields (later Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler), with some Ellington originals mixed in. Weekly radio broadcasts from the club gave Ellington national exposure. In 1929, Ellington appeared in his first movie, a nineteen-minute all-African-American RKO short, Black and Tan, in which he played the hero "Duke". In the same year, The Cotton Club Orchestra appeared on stage for several months in Florenz Ziegfeld's Show Girl, along with vaudeville stars Jimmy Durante, Eddie Foy, Jr., Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and with music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Gus Kahn. That feverish period also included numerous recordings, under the pseudonyms "Whoopee Makers", "The Jungle Band", "Harlem Footwarmers", and the "Ten Black Berries". In 1930, Ellington and his Orchestra connected with a whole different audience in a concert with Maurice Chevalier and they also performed at the Roseland Ballroom, "America's foremost ballroom". Noted composer Percy Grainger was also an early admirer and supporter.

In 1929, when Ellington conducted the orchestra for Show Girl, he met Will Vodery, Ziegfeld’s musical supervisor. In his 1946 biography, Duke Ellington, Barry Ulanov wrote: “From Vodery, as he (Ellington) says himself, he drew his chromatic convictions, his uses of the tones ordinarily extraneous to the diatonic scale, with the consequent alteration of the harmonic character of his music, its broadening, The deepening of his resources. It has become customary to ascribe the classical influences upon Duke - Delius and Debussy and Ravel - to direct contact with their music. Actually his serious appreciation of those and other modern composers, came after his meeting with Vodery.” Ulanov, Barry. Duke Ellington, Creative Age Press, 1946.

As the Depression deepened, the recording industry took a dive, dropping over 90% by 1933. Ellington and his orchestra survived the hard times by taking to the road in a series of tours. Radio exposure also helped maintain his popularity. Ivie Anderson was hired as their vocalist (Sonny Greer had been providing occasional vocals). Normally, Ellington led the orchestra by conducting from the keyboard using piano cues and visual gestures; very rarely did he conduct using a baton. As a bandleader, Ellington was not a strict disciplinarian but he maintained control of his orchestra for decades to come with a crafty combination of charm, humor, flattery, and astute psychology. A complex, private person, he revealed his feelings to only his closest intimates and effectively used his public persona to deflect attention away from himself.

While their United States audience remained mainly African-American in this period, the Cotton Club had a near exclusive white clientèle and the band had a huge following overseas, demonstrated both in a trip to England in 1933 and a 1934 visit to the European mainland. The English visit saw Ellington win praise from members of the "serious" music community, including composer Constant Lambert, which gave a boost to his aspirations to compose longer "serious" pieces. And for agent Mills, it was a publicity triumph, as Ellington was now "internationally famous". On their tour through the segregated South in 1934, they avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African-American musicians by touring in private railcars, which provided easy accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment, while avoiding the indignities of segregated facilities.

The death of Ellington's mother in 1935 led to a temporary slump in his career. Competition was also intensifying, as African-American and white "Swing Bands" began to rocket to popular attention, including those of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Jimmie Lunceford, Benny Carter, Earl Hines, Chick Webb, and Count Basie. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly with white college audiences, and "danceability" drove record sales and bookings. Jukeboxes proliferated nationwide spreading the gospel of "swing". Ellington band could certainly "swing" with the best of them, but Ellington's strength was mood and nuance, and richness of composition, hence his statement "jazz is music; swing is business". The challenge for Ellington at that time was to create a workable balance between his ceaseless artistic exploration and the popular requirements of that era. Ellington countered with two innovations. He made recordings for smaller groups (sextets, octets, and nonets) drawn from his then 15-man orchestra and he composed pieces that were concerto-like and focused on a specific instrumentalist, as with Jeep's Blues for Johnny Hodges and Yearning for Love with Lawrence Brown.

In 1937, Ellington returned to the Cotton Club which had relocated to the mid-town theater district. In the summer of that year, his father died, and due to many expenses Ellington's financial condition was tight. Things improved in 1938 and he met and moved in with Cotton Club employee Beatrice "Evie" Ellis. After splitting with agent Irving Mills, he signed on with William Morris. The 1930s ended with a very successful European tour just as World War II loomed.

Ellington delivered some huge hits during the 1930s, which greatly helped to build his overall reputation "Mood Indigo" in 1930, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" in 1932, "Sophisticated Lady" in 1933, "In a Sentimental Mood" in 1935, "Caravan" in 1937, "I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart" in 1938. Following shortly were "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me" in 1940 and "Take the "A" Train" (written by Billy Strayhorn) in 1941.

The most important event of Ellington’s “golden age” was the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. Hired as a lyricist, Strayhorn , nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, eventually became a vital member of the Ellington Organization and as Ellington described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine". Strayhorn, with his Classical music training, applied that knowledge to arrange and polish future Ellington works. Ellington came to rely on Strayhorn's harmonic judgment, discipline, and taste.

Duke in the 1940s

Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club in New York, May 1943.

The band reached a creative peak in the early 1940s, when Ellington wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices and displayed tremendous creativity. In November 1943 Ellington debuted Black, Brown and Beige in Carnegie Hall which told the struggle of African-Americans, and began a series of concerts ideally suited to displaying Ellington's longer works. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, few had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington’s work. Some of the musicians created a sensation in their own right. The short-lived Jimmy Blanton transformed the use of double bass in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo rather than a rhythm instrument alone. Ben Webster too, the Orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist, started a rivalry with Johnny Hodges as the Orchestra's foremost voice in the sax section. Ray Nance joined, replacing Cootie Williams who had "defected", contemporary wags claimed, to Benny Goodman. Nance, however, added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal. A privately made recording of Nance's first concert date, at Fargo, North Dakota, in November 1940, is probably the most effective display of the band at the peak of its powers during this period. This recording is one of the first of innumerable live performances which survive, made by enthusiasts or broadcasters, significantly expanding the Ducal discography as a result.

Three-minute masterpieces flowed from the minds of Ellington, Billy Strayhorn (from 1939), Ellington's son Mercer Ellington, and members of the Orchestra. "Cotton Tail", "Mainstem", "Harlem Airshaft", "Streets of New York" and dozens of others date from this period.

Ellington's long-term aim became to extend the jazz form from the three-minute limit of the 78 rpm record side, of which he was an acknowledged master. He had composed and recorded Creole Rhapsody as early as 1931, and his tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo," had filled four 10" record sides in 1935; however, it was not until the 1940s that this became a regular feature of Ellington's work. In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with classical music than Ellington. The first of these, "Black, Brown, and Beige" (1943), was dedicated to telling the story of African-Americans, the place of slavery, and the church in their history. Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well-received; Jump for Joy, an earlier musical, closed after only six performances in 1941.

The first recording ban of 1942-3 had a serious effect on all the big bands because of the resulting increase in royalty payments to musicians. The financial viability of Ellington's Orchestra came under threat, though Ellington's income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized it. Ellington always spent lavishly and although he drew a respectable income from the Orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses.

Meanwhile, the development of modern jazz, or bebop, the music industry's shift to solo vocalists such as the young Frank Sinatra as the Big Band age died out, and the diminishing popularity of ballroom and nightclub entertainment in the early television era all undermined Ellington's popularity and status as a trendsetter. Bebop rebelled against commercial jazz, dance jazz, and strict forms to become the music of jazz aficionados. Furthermore, by 1950 the emerging African-American popular music style known as Rhythm and Blues drew away the young African-American audience and soon Rock & Roll followed. In the face of these major social shifts, Ellington continued on his own course, but major defections soon affected his Orchestra and he started to retire earlier works composed for now departed members. For a time though Ellington continued to turn out major works, such as the Kay Davis vocal feature Transblucency and major extended compositions such as Harlem (1950), whose score he presented to music-loving President Harry Truman.

In 1951, Ellington suffered a major loss of personnel, with Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and most significantly, Johnny Hodges leaving to pursue other ventures. Lacking overseas opportunities and motion picture appearances, Ellington Orchestra survived on "one-nighters" and whatever else came their way, even six weeks in the summer of 1955 as the band for the Aquacade in Flushing, New York. Even though he made many television appearances, Ellington's hope that television would provide a significant new venue for his type of jazz did not pan out. The introduction of the 33 1/3 rpm LP record and hi-fi phonograph did give new life to older compositions. However by 1955, after ten years of recording for Capitol, Ellington no longer had a regular recording affiliation.

Career revival

Ellington's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956 returned him to wider prominence and exposed him to new audiences. The feature "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", with saxophonist Paul Gonsalves's six-minute saxophone solo, had been in the band's book since 1937, but on this occasion it nearly created a riot. The revived attention should not have surprised anyone — Hodges had returned to the fold the previous year, and Ellington's collaboration with Strayhorn had been renewed around the same time, under terms amenable to the younger man. Such Sweet Thunder (1957), based on Shakespeare's plays and characters, and The Queen's Suite the following year (dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II), were products of the renewed impetus which the Newport appearance had helped to create.

A new record contract with Columbia produced Ellington's best-selling LP Ellington at Newport and yielded six years of recording stability under producer Irving Townsend, who coaxed both commercial and artistic productions from Ellington. In 1957, CBS (Columbia's parent corporation) aired a live television production of A Drum Is a Woman, an allegorical suite which received mixed reviews. Other festivals at Monterey and elsewhere provided new venues for live exposure, and a European tour in 1958 was wildly received. After a 25-year gap, Ellington and Strayhorn again wrote film scores, this time for Anatomy of a Murder and Paris Blues. Despite some personnel turnover, in 1960 Ellington still possessed a seasoned corps with Carney, Hodges, Williams, Brown, Nance, Hamilton, Procope, Anderson, and Gonsalves. Ellington and Strayhorn, always looking for new musical territory, produced adaptations of John Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt. The late 1950s also saw Ella Fitzgerald record her Duke Ellington Songbook with Ellington and his orchestra—a recognition that Ellington's songs had now become part of the cultural canon known as the "Great American Songbook".

Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker concludes that the work of Billy Strayhorn and Ellington in Anatomy of a Murder is "indispensible, . . . too sketchy to rank in the top echelon among Ellington-Strayhorn masterpiece suites like Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite, but its most inspired moments are their equal." Film historians have recognized the soundtrack "as a landmark — the first significant Hollywood film music by African Americans comprising non-diegetic music, that is, music whose source is not visible or implied by action in the film, like an on-screen band." The score avoided the cultural stereotypes which previously characterized jazz scores and rejected a strict adherence to visuals in ways that presaged the New Wave cinema of the ’60s."

In the early 1960s, Ellington was between recording contracts, which allowed him to record with a variety of artists mostly not previously associated with him. The Ellington and Count Basie orchestras recorded together and he made a record with Coleman Hawkins, plus some work for Frank Sinatra's new Reprise label. In 1962, he participated in a session which produced the "Money Jungle" (United Artists) album with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, and also recorded with John Coltrane for Impulse. Musicians who had previously worked with Ellington returned to the Orchestra as members: Lawrence Brown in 1960 and Cootie Williams two years later. Ellington was by now performing all over the world, a significant portion of each year was now spent making overseas tours, and he formed notable new working relationships, among which included the Swedish vocalist Alice Babs, and South African musicians Dollar Brand and Sathima Bea Benjamin (A Morning in Paris, 1963/2007). His earlier hits were now established standards, earning Ellington impressive royalties. "The writing and playing of music is a matter of intent.... You can't just throw a paint brush against the wall and call whatever happens art. My music fits the tonal personality of the player. I think too strongly in terms of altering my music to fit the performer to be impressed by accidental music. You can't take doodling seriously."

Last years

Ellington receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Nixon, 1969.

Ellington was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1965, but was turned down. His reaction at 67 years old: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young." He performed the first of his Sacred Concerts‎, an attempt at fusing Christian liturgy with jazz, in September of the same year, and even though it received mixed reviews, Ellington was enormously proud of the composition and performed it dozens of times. This concert was followed by two others of the same type in 1968 and 1973, called the Second and Third Sacred Concerts, respectively. This caused enormous controversy in what was already a tumultuous time in the United States. Many saw the Sacred Music suites as an attempt to reinforce commercial support for organized religion, though Ellington simply said it was, "the most important thing I've done." The piano upon which the Sacred Concerts were composed is part of the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Like Haydn and Mozart, Ellington conducted his orchestra from the piano - he always played the keyboard parts when the Sacred Concerts were performed.

The grave of Duke Ellington

Though his later work is overshadowed by his music of the early 1940s, Ellington continued to make vital and innovative recordings, including The Far East Suite (1966), "The New Orleans Suite" (1970), and "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse" (1971), much of it inspired by his world tours. It was during this time that Ellington recorded his only album with Frank Sinatra, entitled Francis A. & Edward K..

Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. He died of lung cancer and pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York City. At his funeral attended by over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion, "It's a very sad day. A genius has passed." Mercer Ellington picked up the reins of the orchestra immediately after Duke's death.

Work in films and the theatre

Ellington's film work began in 1929 with the short film Black and Tan Fantasy. His Symphony In Black, which introduced Billie Holiday, was performed on film in 1935, winning an Academy Award as the best musical short subject. He also appeared in the 1930 Amos 'n' Andy film Check and Double Check. He and his Orchestra continued to appear in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, both in short films and in features such as Murder at the Vanities, and Belle Of The Nineties, (1934), and Cabin In The Sky (1943). In the late 1950s, his work in films took the shape of scoring for soundtracks, notably Anatomy of a Murder (1959), with James Stewart, in which he appeared fronting a roadhouse combo, and Paris Blues, (1961), which featured Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as jazz musicians.

He wrote an original score for Shakespeare's Timon of Athens that was first used in the Stratford Festival production that opened July 29, 1963 for director Michael Langham, who has used it for several subsequent productions, most recently in an adaptation by Stanley Silverman that expands on the score with some of Ellington's best-known works.

Ellington composed the score for the musical "Jump For Joy," which was performed in Los Angeles in 1941. Ellington's sole book musical, Beggar's Holiday, was staged on Broadway in 1946. Sophisticated Ladies, an award-winning 1981 musical revue, incorporated many of the tunes he made famous.

Awards and other recognition

Memorials

Numerous memorials have been dedicated to Duke Ellington, in cities from New York and Washington, DC to Los Angeles.

In Ellington's birthplace of Washington, D.C., there is a school dedicated to his honor and memory as well as one of the bridges over Rock Creek Park. The Duke Ellington School of the Arts educates talented students, who are considering careers in the arts, by providing intensive arts instruction and strong academic programs that prepare students for post-secondary education and professional careers. The Calvert Street Bridge was renamed the Duke Ellington Bridge; built in 1935, it connects Woodley Park to Adams Morgan.

Ellington lived for years in a townhouse on the corner of Manhattan's Riverside Drive and West 106th Street. After his death, West 106th Street was officially renamed Duke Ellington Boulevard. A large memorial to Ellington, created by sculptor Robert Graham, was dedicated in 1997 in New York's Central Park, near Fifth Avenue and 110th Street, an intersection named Duke Ellington Circle.

Although he made two more stage appearances before his death, Ellington performed what is considered his final "full" concert in a ballroom at Northern Illinois University on March 20, 1974. The hall was renamed the Duke Ellington Ballroom in 1980.

A statue of Ellington at a piano is featured at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA's) Schoenberg Hall.

Tributes

Sathima Bea Benjamin -- South African vocalist wrote "Gift of Love" in memory of Duke Ellington on her 1987 album Love Light.
Dave Brubeck -- dedicated "The Duke" (1954) to Ellington and it became a standard covered by others, both during Ellington's lifetime (such as Miles Davis in 1957 on Miles Ahead) and posthumously (such as George Shearing in 1992 on I Hear a Rhapsody: Live at the Blue Note).
Tony Bennett frequently altered the lyrics to "Lullaby of Broadway" in live performance, to sing, "You rock-a-bye your baby 'round/to Ellington or Basie," as a personal tribute to the two jazz giants.
Judy Collins -- wrote "Song For Duke" in 1975, and included it on her album Judith.
Miles Davis -- one month after Ellington's death, created his half-hour dedicated dirge "He Loved Him Madly" (1974) collected on Get Up with It.
The jazz-influenced band Steely Dan recorded a note-for-note version of an early Ellington standard, "East St. Louis Toodle-oo," on their album Pretzel Logic, using treated slide guitars to re-create the plunger-muted "jungle sound" of the original Ellington horns.
Mercer Ellington -- (1919–1996) led The Duke Ellington Orchestra after his father's death.
Stevie Wonder -- wrote the song "Sir Duke" as a tribute to Ellington in 1976.
Paul Ellington -- leads The Duke Ellington Orchestra (1996-?).
Barrie Lee Hall, Jr -- often leads The Duke Ellington Orchestra in Paul Ellington's absence. Mr. Hall played in the orchestra under both the Duke and Mercer.
Charles Mingus -- composed "Open Letter to Duke"
Lorraine Feather -- has composed lyrics to many of Ellington's instrumental compositions,recorded on CD's including "Dooji Wooji" and "Such Sweet Thunder."
The Modern Jazz Quartet composed two original Ellington tributes for their album "For Ellington."

Homage from critics

Gunther Schuller wrote, "Ellington composed incessantly to the very last days of his life. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. In jazz he was a giant among giants. And in twentieth century music, he may yet one day be recognized as one of the half-dozen greatest masters of our time."

Martin Williams said "Duke Ellington lived long enough to hear himself named among our best composers. And since his death in 1974, it has become not at all uncommon to see him named, along with Charles Ives, as the greatest composer we have produced, regardless of category."

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Duke Ellington on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.

Grammy Awards

Ellington earned 13 Grammy awards from 1959 to 2000, nine while he was alive.Duke Ellington Grammy Award History
Year Category Title Genre Result
1999 Historical Album The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition
RCA Victor Recordings (1927-1973) Jazz Winner
1979 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band Duke Ellington At Fargo, 1940 Live Jazz Winner
1976 Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band The Ellington Suites Jazz Winner
1972 Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band Toga Brava Suite Jazz Winner
1971 Best Jazz Performance By A Big Band New Orleans Suite Jazz Winner
1968 Best Instrumental Jazz Performance - Large Group
Or Soloist With Large Group ...And His Mother Called Him Bill Jazz Winner
1967 Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group
Or Soloist With Large Group Far East Suite Jazz Winner
1966 Best Original Jazz Composition In The Beginning God Jazz Winner
1965 Best Instrumental Jazz Performance -
Large Group Or Soloist With Large Group New Orleans Suite Jazz Winner
1959 Best Performance By A Dance Band Anatomy of a Murder Pop Winner
1959 Best Musical Composition First Recorded
And Released In 1959
(More Than 5 Minutes Duration) Anatomy of a Murder Composing Winner
1959 Best Sound Track Album - Background Score
From A Motion Picture Or Television Anatomy of a Murder Composing Winner

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Duke Ellington were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."Duke Ellington: Grammy Hall of Fame Award
Year Recorded Title Genre Label Year Inducted
1932 It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) Jazz (Single) Brunswick 2008
1934 Cocktails for Two Jazz (Single) Victor 2007
1957 Ellington at Newport Jazz (Album) Columbia 2004
1956 Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue Jazz (Single) Columbia 1999
1967 Far East Suite Jazz (Album) RCA 1999
1944 Black, Brown and Beige Jazz (Single) RCA Victor 1990
1928 Black and Tan Fantasy Jazz (Single) Victor 1981
1941 Take the "A" Train Jazz (Single) Victor 1976
1931 Mood Indigo Jazz (Single) Brunswick 1975

Honors and inductions

Ellington on the Washington, D.C. quarter due to be released in 2009.Year Category Notes
2009 Commemorative U.S. quarter D.C. and U.S. Territories Quarters Program.
2008 Gennett Records Walk of Fame
2004 Nesuhi Ertegün Jazz Hall of Fame
at Jazz at Lincoln Center
1999 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation
1986 22¢ commemorative U.S. stamp Issued April 29, 1986
1978 Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame
1973 French Legion of Honor July 6, 1973
1973 Honorary Degree in Music from Columbia University May 16, 1973
1971 Songwriters Hall of Fame
1969 Presidential Medal of Freedom
1956 Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame inductee
1968 Grammy Trustees Award Special Merit Award
1966 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
1959 NAACP Spingarn Medal

Further reading

Collier, James Lincoln. Duke Ellington, Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-503770-7
Dailey, Raleigh. "Ellington as a Composer for the Piano," in Jazz Research Proceedings Yearbook, #31 (Jan.2001), pp. 151-156.
Dance, Stanley. The World Of Duke Ellington, ISBN 0-306-80136-1
Ellington, Duke. Music Is My Mistress, ISBN 0-7043-3090-3
Ellington, Mercer K. Duke Ellington In Person, Houghton Mifflin, 1978. ISBN 0-395-25711-5
Ellington, Mercer K. Fast Facts. Duke Ellington.25 CMG WorldWide. February 1, 2007
Hasse, John Edward. The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, Simon & Schuster, 1993, ISBN 0-671-70387-0
Tucker, Mark. Ellington, The Early Years, University of Illinois Press, 1991. ISBN 0-252-01425-1
Ulanov, Barry. Duke Ellington, Creative Age Press, 1946.

Duke Ellington discography

This is the discography of Duke Ellington. The majority of these recordings are listed under the year they were recorded, rather than released. Reissues are listed for most of the recordings released before the 1950s, as the original 78s are rare.

1920s

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Ellington and his band recorded for the labels BluDisc, Pathe, Victor, Brunswick, Columbia, Okeh, Vocalion, Cameo, RCA-Victor, Plaza, Durium and ARC. Some labels, such as RCA-Victor, Okeh and Brunswick, have collected Ellington's early recordings into box sets, while material from other labels is scattered. The most comprehensive source for Ellington's early work are the Classics releases, although note that these records omit alternate takes, which may be found in other collections.

1926

1924-1926: The Birth of A Band Vol. 1 (EPM Musique) (released 1988)
The Birth of Big Band Jazz (Riverside) (EP) (released 1956)
Complete Edition (1924-1926) (Masters of Jazz)

1927

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1924-1927 (Classics)
Complete Edition (1926-1927) (Masters of Jazz)

1928

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: 1927-1928 (Classics) (Released 1996)
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: 1928 (Classics)
Complete Vol. 1: 1925-1928 (Columbia - France) (released 1973)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1927-1928 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1928 (Classics)
Complete Edition (1927-1928) (Masters of Jazz)
Complete Edition (1928) (2 discs) (Masters of Jazz)

1929

Flaming Youth (1927-1929) (RCA Victor) (Released 1965)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1928-1929 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1929 (Classics)
Complete Edition (1929) (2 discs) (Masters of Jazz)

1930s

1930

The Okeh Ellington (Columbia) (1927-1930) (released 1991)
The Works of Duke: Vol. 1 - Vol. 5 (RCA) (1927-1930)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1929-1930 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1930 (2 volume) (Classics)
Complete Edition (1929-1930) (Masters of Jazz)
Complete Edition (1930) (2 discs) (Masters of Jazz)

1931

Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick Recordings (3 discs) (Decca) (1926-1931) (released 1994)
Jazz Heritage Brunswick/Vocalion Rarities (1926-1931) (MCA) (released 1983)
Mood Indigo (1927-1931) (Columbia) (released 1992)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1930-31 (Classics)
Complete Edition (1930-1931) (Masters of Jazz)

1932

Jungle Nights in Harlem (1927-1932) (Bluebird) (released 1991)
Jazz Cocktail (AVS/Living Era) (1928-1932)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1931-32 (Classics)

1933

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1932-33 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1933 (Classics)

1934

Early Ellington: 1927-1934 (Bluebird) (released 1954; CD release 1990 on RCA)
Duke Ellington 1927-1934 (Nimbus) (1991)
Great Original Performances 1927-1934 (Mobile Fidelity (released 1989)
Jubilee Stomp (Bluebird) (1928-1934)

1935

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1933-35 (Classics)

1936

Rockin’ in Rhythm (1927-1936) (Jazz Hour) (Released 1996)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1935-36 (Classics)

1937

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1936-37 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1937 (2 volumes) (Classics)

1938

”Braggin’ in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year” (Portrait)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1938 (Classics)

1939

Duke Ellington Playing the Blues (1927-1939) (Black and Blue) (Released 2002)
”The Duke’s Men: Small Groups vol. 2, 1938-1939” (Columbia/Vocalion)
”The Blanton–Webster Band (1939-1942) (RCA/BlueBird)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1938-39 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1939 (2 volumes) (Classics)

1940s

The early 1940s saw limited output due to the recording ban, but Ellington did make annual visits to Carnegie Hall, listed below. In the January 1943 concert, Ellington introduced his first extended suite, "Black, Brown and Beige." This era also saw the appearance of the "Liberian Suite" and his highly regarded recordings featuring Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster, "the best Ellington band" according to critic Bob Blumenthal.[1]

1940

”On the Air”
”Fargo, North Dakota, November 7, 1940” (Vintage Jazz Classics)
”The Duke in Boston” (Jazz Unlimited)
The British Connection: 1933-1940 (Jazz Unlimited)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1939-40 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1940 (2 volumes) (Classics)

1941

”Take the ‘A’ Train” (Vintage Jazz Classics)
”The Great Ellington Units” (Bluebird)
"1941 Classics - Live in Hollywood" (Alamac)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1940-41 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1941 (Classics)

1942

Hollywood Swing & Jazz (1937-1942) (Rhino)
”Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band (1939-1942)

1943

”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943”
”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1943” (Storyville)
Live at the Hurricane (Storyville)

1944

”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1944”
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1942-44 (Classics)

1945

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1944-45 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1945 (2 volumes) (Classics)
The Treasury Shows 1943-1945 (13 double LPs) (D.E.T.S.)
Duke's Joint (1943-1945) (Buddha)
”The Duke Ellington World Broadcasting Series” (Circle)

1946

”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1946”
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1945-46 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1946 (2 volumes) (Classics)
The Great Chicago Concerts (Music Masters)
Happy Go Lucky Local (Musicraft)

1947

”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: December 1947”
”Daybreak Express”
Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Duke Ellington Vol. 4: April 30, 1947
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1946-47 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1947 (2 volumes) (Classics)
Duke Ellington at Ciro's (Dems)
Liberian Suite (Columbia)

1948

”Live at Click Restaurant Philadelphia Vol. 1”
”Live at Click Restaurant Philadelphia Vol. 2”
Carnegie Hall 11/30/1948
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1947-48 (Classics)
Cornell University (Music Masters)

1949

The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1948-49 (Classics)
Duke Ellington at the Hollywood Empire (Storyville)

1950s

Ellington began the 1950s losing Johnny Hodges, Sonny Greer and Lawrence Brown. The second half of the 1950s, however, feature his famous "comeback" appearance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, with Paul Gonsalves running through 27 choruses of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue."

1950

Masterpieces By Ellington (Columbia)
”Great Times” (Riverside)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1949-50 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1950 (Classics)
Live In Zurich, Switzerland 2.5.1950 (TCB Music)

1951

”Hi-Fi Ellington Uptown”
”Johnny Hodges, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn All Stars” (Prestige)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1950-51 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1951 (Classics)

1952

”Duke on the Air”
”The Seattle Concert”
”Live at the Blue Note” (Bandstand)
”Duke Ellington at Birdland” (Jazz Unlimited)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1952 (Classics)
”Uptown” (Columbia)

1953

”Piano Reflections”
”The Pasadena Concert” (GNP)
”Premiered by Ellington”
”The Duke Plays Ellington”
”Ellington Showcase”
”Duke Ellington Plays the Blues”
”Ellington Uptown”
"Satin Doll"
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1952-53 (Classics)
The Chronological Duke Ellington & His Orchestra 1953 (2 volumes) (Classics)

1954

”Dance to the Duke”
”Duke Ellington Plays”
”Happy Birthday Duke! April 29 Birthday Sessions” (Laserlight)
”1954 Los Angeles Concert” (GNP)

1955

”Ellington ‘55”
”Duke’s Mixture”
”The Duke and His Men”
”Jazz Masters: 1953-1955” (EMI)
”The Washington, D.C. Armory Concert” (Jazz Guild)
”The Complete Capitol Recordings of Duke Ellington”
”The Carnegie Hall Concerts: March 1955”

1956

Ellington at Newport-Complete (1999; expansion and restoration of the complete 1956 Newport Jazz Festival performance)
”A Drum is a Woman” (Jazz Track)
”Duke Ellington and the Buck Clayton All Stars at Newport”
”Al Hibbler with the Duke”
”Historically Speaking: The Duke” (Rhino)
”Studio Sessions, Chicago, 1956” (LMR)
”The Complete Porgy and Bess”
”Ellington '56” (Charly)
”Blue Rose” (Columbia)
”Live From The 1956 Stratford Festival” (Music and Arts)

1957

Such Sweet Thunder (Columbia)
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook
”Happy Reunion” (Sony)
”Live at the 1957 Stratford Music Festival” (Music & Arts)
”All-Star Road Band - Volume 2” (CBS)

1958

Ellington indigos
Newport Jazz Festival
”Jazz at the Plaza”(Columbia)
”Black, Brown and Beige (Live)”
”Blues in Orbit” (Columbia)
”Duke Ellington at the Bal Masque”
”The Cosmic Scene: Duke Ellington’s Spacemen” (Mosaic)
Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Side by Side
”Blues Summit”
”Duke Ellington at the Alhambra”
”In Concert at the Pleyel Paris, 1958” (Magic)
”Duke Ellington At The Alhambra” (Pablo)
”Happy Reunion” (Sony)
”The Duke in Munich” (Storyville)

1959

Jazz Party (Columbia)
Festival Session (Columbia)
”The Ellington Suites”
Anatomy of a Murder (Soundtrack album) (Columbia)
Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges: Back to Back
Elegant Mister Ellington
”The Duke’s DJ Special” (Fresh Sound)
”Live in Paris 1959” (Affinity)
”Live at the Blue Note” (Roulette)
”Back to Back” (Verve)

1960s

In the 1960s, Ellington made recordings with a number of top stars, including Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and Coleman Hawkins. He also wrote and recorded a number of suites, such as his religious "Sacred Concerts", the "Perfume Suite" and the "Latin American Suite."

1960
”Three Suites” (Columbia)
”Piano in the Background” (Columbia)
”Piano in the Foreground” (Columbia)
”The Nutcracker Suite”
”Peer Gynt Suite/Suite Thursday”
”Swinging Suites by Edward E. and Edward G.”
”Paris Blues”
”Reminiscing in Tempo” (1928-1960) (Columbia)
”Unknown Session” (French Columbia)
”Hot Summer Dance” (Red Baron)
”Live At Monterey” 1960 (Status)

1961

Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington (Roulette). Later re released in 2001 by Blue Note Records as The Great Summit.
”Together for the First Time! The Count Meets the Duke”
”S.R.O.”
The Girl's Suite & The Perfume Suite (Columbia)
Paris Blues (Ryko)

1962

Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
Money Jungle
Afro-Bossa (Reprise)
”Midnight in Paris” (Columbia)
”All American in Jazz” (Columbia)
”Will the Big Bands Ever Come Back?” (Reprise)
”Duke Ellington Featuring Paul Gonsalves”
”Studio Sessions, New York, 1962” (Saja)
”Recollections of the Big Band Era” (Atlantic)
”The Feeling of Jazz” (Black Lion)
”Duke 56/62” (in three volumes) (CBS)

1963

The Great Paris Concert (released 1973)
A Morning in Paris (released 1996, reissue 2007/08)
”Jazz Violin Session” (Reprise)
”Studio Sessions, New York, 1963” (Saja)
”In The Uncommon Market” (Pablo)
”Serenade to Sweden” (Telstar)
”My People” (Red Baron)
Wise Woman Blues” (Rosetta)

1964

”Hits of the Sixties: This Time By Ellington” (Reprise)
”Duke Ellington Plays Mary Poppins” (Reprise)
”Jazz Group 1964” (Jazz Anthology)
”Live at Carnegie Hall 1964” (Jazz Up)
”Harlem” (Pablo)
”All-Star Road Band” (CBS)
”At Basin Street East” (Music & Arts)
”London: The Great Concerts” (MusicMasters)
”New York Concert” (Musicmasters)

1965

Concert in the Virgin Isles (Reprise)
Ella at Duke's Place (Verve)
The Symphonic Ellington (Reprise) (1985 reissue)
The Duke at Tanglewood
Jumpin’ Pumkins
”'65 Revisited” (Affinity)
”Two Great Concerts” (1949 and 1965) (Accord)
”A Concert of Sacred Music From Grace Cathedral” (Status)

1966

Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur (Status)
The Far East Suite
Orchestra Works
The Pianist
Soul Call
Sacred Music (live)
Live at the Greek - 9/23/1966
The Stockholm Concert, 1966 (Pablo)
”In the Uncommon Market” (Pablo)
”Solo & Quintet: I'm Beginning To See The Light” (West Wind)

1967

...And His Mother Called Him Bill (Bluebird)
The Popular Duke Ellington
Intimacy of the Blues (Fantasy)
Johnny Come Lately
North of the Border in Canada
Live at the Rainbow Grill
”Beyond Category: The Musical Genius of Duke Ellington” (1927-1967) (Smithsonian)
”Live in Italy” (Jazz Up)
”1967 European Tour” (Lone Hill)
”Berlin '65 / Paris '67” (Pablo)
Collages
The Greatest Jazz Concert In The World (Pablo)
The Jaywalker* (Storyville)

1968

The Famed Fieldcup Concert
Francis A. & Edward K. (Reprise)
Latin American Suite (Fantasy)
Yale Concert (issued 1973) (Fantasy)
Second Sacred Concert (live) (Prestige)
”Studio Sessions, New York, 1968” (Saja)
”Live in Mexico” (Tring)

1969

70th Birthday Concert (Blue Note)
The Intimate Ellington
Up in Duke’s Workshop
Pretty Woman
Standards: Live at at Salle Pleyel
”April in Paris” (West Wind)

1970s

Ellington remained active to the end of his life, recording three final major suites in the 1970s, his "Third Sacred Concert," the "New Orleans Suite," the "Toga Brava Suite" and "The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse," his most explicit venture into what would be called "world music." His concert at Eastbourne was Ellington's final recording.

1970

New Orleans Suite (Atlantic)

1971

The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse (Fantasy)
Toga Brava Suite (Storyville)
”The English Concerts: 1969 and 1971” (Sequel)
”Up in Duke’s Workshop” (Pablo)

1972

Live at the Whitney (issued 1995) (Impulse)
This One's for Blanton (with Ray Brown)
”The Ellington Suites” (Pablo)

1973

Duke's Big 4 (Pablo)
Collages
Third Sacred Concert
Duke Ellington & Teresa Brewer: It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing (Columbia)
”Rugged Jungle” (Lost Secret Records)

1974

”Eastbourne”

Box Sets

The Centennial Edition: The Complete RCA-Victor Recordings (1999) (24 discs)
Complete Works: 1924-1947 (Proper UK) (2003) (40 discs)
The Complete Capitol Recordings (Blue Note) (1999) (5 discs)
The Duke Box (Storyville) (2007) (8 discs)
1936-40 Small Group Sessions (Mosaic, 7 discs)
Early Ellington: The Complete Brunswick And Vocalion Recordings Of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931
The Private Collection (1956-1971) (Saja) (10 discs)
”The Reprise Studio Recordings” (Mosaic) (5 discs)

Ellington's 78-rpm recordings from 1924 to 1926, can be found on countless CDs, but often with very bad sound quality. The Centennial Edition, The Complete Brunswick And Vocalion Recordings and the Small Group Sessions stand out, being the most complete sets with far superior sound, often drawn from masters and mint condition records. Most of the remaining 78-rpm recordings for labels such as Okeh and Pathe, can be found on the French Classics series and the Complete Works: 1924-1947 box set.

Other