The tours in the USA had got bigger and more lavish as the years went by. He added yet more depth and variety to the Ellington sound. “Duke Ellington was the real pioneer in jazz concerts.” – Norman Granzīy the time Ellington returned to Britain in 1939 Billy Strayhorn, Duke’s longtime collaborator, had joined the band as arranger, composer, and second pianist.
The 1930s saw some of the Duke’s biggest selling records including, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Stormy Weather,” “Cocktails for Two,” “Solitude” and “Caravan.” On many of these records, as well as Ellington’s 1933 trip to London, were some outstanding musicians, included Barney Bigard on clarinet, Cootie Williams on trumpet, and Ben Webster on tenor sax. He appeared at the London Palladium for the first time on June 12, 1933, and was afforded a “wildly enthusiastic welcome.” Among those in the audience was Nesuhi Ertegun who had taken his younger brother Ahmet to witness “the King of Jazz” as the newspapers dubbed the Duke Ahmet would later co-found Atlantic Records. The Duke’s records sold in large numbers, particularly in, “London and university cities,” according to the press. In 1933 he embarked upon his most ambitious tour, crossing the Atlantic to appear in Britain. Finding international fameĮllington eventually left the Cotton Club and began appearing in cities all over America. He went on to create many extended works during the 1930s, the most creative period of his entire career. It certainly gives some insight into what Ellington was thinking and we can only speculate what he might have done had better technology been available. It took up both sides of a 78-rpm record, something completely new for a jazz band this is what classical orchestras did. In June 1931 Ellington was in a studio in Camden, New Jersey to record one of his most ambitious records – “Creole Rhapsody.” As the 1920s came to an end Ellington’s orchestra were not just known in America word had spread to Europe and Britain. Pivotal to Duke’s success were his radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, which carried his name directly into homes all across America on the CBS network, which had been formed in 1927. Over the next two to three years the Ellington Orchestra was rarely out of the studio Creole Love Call, Black and Tan Fantasy, and The Mooche all made the Billboard chart. It wasn’t until 1926, when Duke was being billed as Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra, that he really started to show promise in the studio with “It Was A Night In Harlem” and the first rendition of East St Louis “Toodle-o” a later version of this with “Toodle-oo” on the end made the Billboard best-seller list. The Washingtonians had first recorded back in November 1924 and over the next couple of years cut a few more sides. When they opened, the band was a ten-piece having been joined by clarinetist Barney Bigard, along with saxophonists, Johnny Hodges on alto and Harry Carney on baritone.
Irving Mills, a music publisher and all-around man about music proved to be the right choice when he secured the prestigious gig at the Cotton Club. Not long after Duke began to find success in New York he decided he needed a manager. Soon the Duke was working up more complicated arrangements as well as experimenting with his own material. Encouraged to return the following year by Fats Waller he took his Washingtonians to a job at Barron’s in Harlem a few months later they were uptown at the Kentucky Club on Broadway. In 1922 he took his trio to New York City to work, but it was a failure. He played in the Capitol’s nightspots with a small group that included drummer Sonny Greer, who worked with The Duke for many years.
He made his professional debut as a teenager in 1916 having learned ragtime piano from a pianist named Doc Perry even before he made his debut he had composed his first rag. It was when he was a teenager that he first became known as “Duke” he was described as being somewhat detached back then, maybe even a little haughty. He learned to read music early on, which helped him to achieve greatness later on. He began studying piano when he was seven or eight back then ragtime was about as jazzy as things got in the Capital. Ellington senior expected his children to behave themselves, to dress and speak according to their upbringing, which was much better than most of young Edward’s future colleagues. Becoming the “Duke”Įdward Kennedy Ellington’s father was a butler in a house not far from the White House he wanted his son to become an artist. Listen to the best of Duke Ellington on Apple Music and Spotify.