History Music / DukeEllington

->''"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind."''

Duke and Strayhorn also composed and performed music for theater and film. The most famous of these soundtracks, ''Film/AnatomyOfAMurder'', was notable for being a historic breakthrough--the [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative first African-American compositions used as non-diagetic music in a major Hollywood film]].

* DreamTeam: The Blanton-Webster lineup of 1940-41 is generally regarded as this, with not only Ellington's regular stars such as Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Barney Bigard, Sonny Greer etc. but also bass virtuoso Jimmy Blanton and tenor sax giant Ben Webster. This lineup, minus Williams, was captured live on ''Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940'', an amateur recording that wasn't commercially released until 1978.

In the late 1940s and [[TheFifties 1950s]], big bands and swing precipitously fell out of popularity. [[note]](Basically, the serious jazz fans and up-and-coming jazz musicians abandoned it for bebop, while the dancers and teens abandoned it for pop music [including crooners like Music/FrankSinatra] and, later on, rock and roll. Not helping were swing's association with bad memories of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and a couple of strikes by the musicians' union in 1942-44 and 1948 which prevented big bands from recording but not their singers, prompting many to go out on their own, most famously Sinatra.)[[/note]] Duke's orchestra was one of the few that managed to stay afloat--and even so, the band mainly survived off the royalties from their prior compositions.

** The 1956 Newport performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" is about 15 minutes long, most of which is taken up by just Ellington and his rhythm section encouraging tenor sax player Paul Gonsalves into one of the most CrazyAwesome solos on record.

However, soon enough time had passed for the PopularityPolynomial to swing back in Duke's favor, setting the stage for a comeback. At the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, the band's performance of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue"--particularly Paul Gonsalves' 27-chorus saxophone solo in the middle--stirred the crowd to wild dancing, then pandemonium. A month later, Duke's face was on the cover of ''Time'' magazine. Duke and his orchestra were even more renowned than they were at the height of the swing era, and this resurgence in popularity lasted until Duke's death in 1974.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a jazz pianist and band leader, one of the leading figures in the history of the genre, and one of the greatest composers in the history of American music.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was a jazz pianist and band leader, one of the big names in the history of the genre, and one of the USA's greatest composers.

[[quoteright:251:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duke-ellington_3373.jpg]]

** Even in the swing era, when the 78 rpm record format put a hard limit on the length of studio recordings, Duke would sometimes record songs that took up both sides of a record--or multiple records. [[note]](Before [=LPs=], an album consisted of several discs bound together in a book of sorts, hence the "album" term.)[[/note]] Then the long-playing record was invented, permitting him to record even longer compositions. The result: Duke's very first studio LP (''Masterpieces by Ellington'', 1950) consisted of four songs varying from 8 to 15 minutes long and was released in the 12" format, which at the time was mostly reserved for classical music (popular music [=LPs=] used the 10" format until the mid-1950s).

In the late 1940s and [[TheFifties 1950s]], big bands and swing precipitously fell out of popularity[[note]]basically, the serious jazz fans and up-and-coming jazz musicians abandoned it for bebop, while the dancers and teens abandoned it for rock-n-roll or for crooners like Music/FrankSinatra[[/note]]. Duke's orchestra was one of the few that managed to stay afloat--and even so, the band mainly survived off the royalties from their prior compositions.

** Even in the swing era, when the 78 rpm record format put a hard limit on the length of studio recordings, Duke would sometimes record songs that took up both sides of a record--or multiple records. Then the long-playing record was invented, permitting him to record even longer compositions. The result: Duke's very first studio LP (''Masterpieces by Ellington'', 1950) consisted of four songs varying from 8 to 15 minutes long and was released in the 12" format, which at the time was mostly reserved for classical music (popular music [=LPs=] used the 10" format until the mid-1950s).

* EpicRocking: Even in the swing era, when the 78 rpm record format put a hard limit on the length of studio recordings, Duke would sometimes record songs that took up both sides of a record--or multiple records. Then the long-playing record was invented, permitting him to record even longer compositions. The result: Duke's very first studio LP (''Masterpieces by Ellington'', 1950) consisted of four songs varying from 8 to 15 minutes long and was released in the 12" format, which at the time was mostly reserved for classical music (popular music [=LPs=] used the 10" format until the mid-1950s).

* CatchPhrase: "We love you madly." He'd tell the audience this at the end of every concert.

-->--'''Duke Ellington'''

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was a jazz pianist and band leader, one of the big names in the history of the genre, and one of the USA's greatest composers.

* EpicRocking: Even in the swing era, when the 78 rpm record format put a hard limit on the length of studio recordings, Duke would sometimes record songs that took up both sides of a record--or multiple records. Then the long-playing record was invented, permitting him to record even longer compositions. The result: Duke's very first studio LP (''Masterpieces by Ellington'', 1950) consisted of four songs varying from 8 to 15 minutes long and was released in the 12" format, which at the time was mostly reserved for classical music (popular music LPs used the 10" format until the mid-1950s).

* EpicRocking: Even in the swing era, when the 78 rpm record format put a hard limit on the length of studio recordings, Duke would sometimes record songs that took up both sides of a record--or multiple records. Then the long-playing record was invented, permitting him to record even longer compositions. The result: Duke's very first studio LP (''Masterpieces by Ellington'', 1950), consisted of four songs varying from 8 to 15 minutes long.

In the late 1940s and [[TheFifties 1950s]], big bands and swing precipitously fell out of popularity[[note]]basically, the serious jazz fans and up-and-coming jazz musicians abandoned it for bebop, while the dancers and teens abandoned it for rock-n-roll or for crooners like FrankSinatra[[/note]]. Duke's orchestra was one of the few that managed to stay afloat--and even so, the band mainly survived off the royalties from their prior compositions.

Throughout his career, Duke sought out what he called "individualists"--musicians who weren't just technically proficient with their instrument, but whose playing was one-of-a-kind. (In this regard, he was inspired by the examples of Music/LouisArmstrong and Sidney Bechet--Duke once expressed a desire to have Louis play every instrument for his band, if it were possible.) A few of the individualists who played with Duke were trumpeters James "Bubber" Miley, Cootie Williams, and Ray Nance (who also played violin); trombonists "Tricky Sam" Nanton and Juan Tizol; saxophonists Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, and Paul Gonsalves; bassist Jimmy Blanton; and vocalist Ivie Anderson. Billy Strayhorn was also particularly noteworthy for his serving as the band's secondary pianist and Ellington's partner in songwriting. Ellington and Strayhorn had a knack for writing or arranging songs tailored specifically for the strengths of the musicians--it was noted that musicians tended to play better under Duke than on their own. Ellington's work schedule was also affected because he was almost continuously touring, giving him little time to finish many of the things he started--so he'd get Strayhorn to finish them instead, which Strayhorn was happy to do. Duke also treated his musicians well. He liked to joke "I've discovered a gimmick--I give them money", but he also acted as their promoter, agent, biggest fan and general father figure, and they, in turn, adored him, for the most part. As a result, the musician turnover rate in his orchestra was remarkably low. Consider Cootie Williams, who made his name with Ellington in the '30s but left in 1940, when the band was at the peak of its powers. Ellington's only comment was "He'll be back", and 22 years later, Williams did indeed come back, and stayed until after Ellington's death.

** The 1956 Newport performance of "Crescendo/Diminuendo in Blue" is about 15 minutes long, most of which is taken up by just Ellington and his rhythm section goading tenor sax player Paul Gonsalves into one of the most CrazyAwesome solos on record.

During this period, Duke continued to innovate, albeit within the swing idiom, writing new material and rearranging old material to keep it fresh. He incorporated "world music" influences on albums like ''The Far East Suite'' and ''The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse'', and incorporated church music into his Sacred Concert series. At the encouragement of producer Bob Thiele and various labels, Duke teamed up with other big names in jazz--Music/LouisArmstrong, John Coltrane, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Music/CharlesMingus, and Max Roach--to record albums.

Throughout his career, Duke sought out what he called "individualists"--musicians who weren't just technically proficient with their instrument, but whose playing was one-of-a-kind. (In this regard, he was inspired by the examples of Music/LouisArmstrong and Sidney Bechet--Duke once expressed a desire to have Louis play every instrument for his band, if it were possible.) A few of the individualists who played with Duke were trumpeters James "Bubber" Miley, Cootie Williams, and Ray Nance (who also played violin); trombonists "Tricky Sam" Nanton and Juan Tizol; saxophonists Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, and Paul Gonsalves; bassist Jimmy Blanton; and vocalist Ivie Anderson. Billy Strayhorn was also particularly noteworthy for his serving as the band's secondary pianist and Ellington's partner in songwriting. Ellington and Strayhorn had a knack for writing or arranging songs tailored specifically for the strengths of the musicians--it was noted that musicians tended to play better under Duke than on their own. Ellington's work schedule was also affected because he was almost continuously touring, giving him little time to finish many of the things he started--so he'd get Strayhorn to finish them instead, which Strayhorn was happy to do. Duke also treated his musicians well. He liked to joke "I've discovered a gimmick--I give them money", but he also acted as their promoter, agent, biggest fan and general father figure, and they, in turn, adored him, for the most part. As a result, the musician turnover rate in his orchestra was remarkably low. Consider Cootie Williams, who made his name with Ellington in the 30s but left in 1940, when the band was at the peak of its powers. Ellington's only comment was, "He'll be back", and 22 years later, Williams did indeed come back, and stayed until after Ellington's death.