Encomiums are appropriate for Duke . These come as books, articles, paintings, poems, photographs, tribute recordings, radio productions, and more expressions of love and respect. Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are the two jazzmen who are followed most prominently in Ken Burns’s superb television series, “Jazz” (2000). Duke performed at the White House on the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 1969 at the request of President Richard Nixon, who was a jazz aficionado. Ellington was the recipient many honors and honorary doctorates from myriad countries. He won eleven Grammy Awards. One could go on.
I cannot get enough of Edward Kennedy Ellington (his life, his music, his role in American and global history), so I was happy to find Duke Ellington: An American Composer and Icon, which I had somehow missed in the three years since it was published in 2015.
This large, glossy, hardback book is lavishly illustrated with photographs, concert programs, Duke’s handwritten notes, album covers, an essay by Duke, ticket stubs, and more. We find a short poem by Duke also. There are more images than text, but the ratio is fitting this kind of book, which is neither a biography nor primarily a piece of jazz criticism, although Dan Morgenstern, a jazz critic, contributes a chapter.
Tony Bennett, a close friend of Duke’s, writes the introduction, which sparkles with love and admiration: “Duke Ellington was, and will remain America’s foremost classical composer. The breadth and depth of his work is comparable to the work of Beethoven, Bach, or Mozart, and five hundred years from now, his music will be revered just as much as it is now” (p. 6). Duke encouraged Tony to paint, since “it was better to work in two art forms than one” (p. 7). Tony found a second career and—as seen in this book—painted his friend, surrounded by pink roses. Tony Bennett paints under his real name of Anthony Benedetto. To view his fine work, see his book, Tony Bennett: A Life of Art and Music (2007)
Tony writes: He was “one of the most generous and loving people I have ever known” and would send Tony a dozen roses after finishing a new song. If taken literally, Duke could have single-handedly kept several flower shops in business for decades, given his prodigious song writing.
Mercedes Ellington, Duke’s beautiful granddaughter, writes a short chapter oddly entitled, “Duke Ellington, My Uncle Edward.” Duke didn’t like a grandfatherly name, because he didn’t want to seem old. So, he chose, Uncle Edward instead, which reflects is flamboyant character. Although she was Mercer Ellington’s daughter, he did not raise her, but spent his time on the road performing—he played trumpet—with his father. Still, Duke made his impression and encouraged her in her career as a dancer and choreographer. She became the first black dancer in the prestigious June Taylor Dancers. Here is one nugget from her essay. “My grandfather was not exactly the grandfather type. He was always on the road, not at home with a pipe and slippers. He carried a bible and a thesaurus everywhere he went. He loved unusual words. Almost as much as he loved his women” (p. 29). Although this book does not mention it, Duke’s spoken introduction to “Afro-Eurasian Eclipse” (1971) displays the elocutionary prowess of an orator in love with words.
Surveying Duke’s timeline of events and achievements from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1974, Steven Brower contributes the longest chapter. It is broken down year-by-year from 1919 (when Ellington’s career began) and interspersed with small photographs. Although it is not a biographical essay, it is rich in detail. Terry Teachout’s Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington (2014) is the best, if unsparing, biography.
In “Beyond Category,” Jazz legend Dave Brubeck tells of Duke and his influence on him. For Duke, to be “beyond category,” was to reach the zenith of genius. Brubeck says this of Duke and it could be said of him as well. On the train between gigs, they would both be writing music and would sometimes talk. Brubeck says, “Those intimate conversations are some of the most treasured moments of my life” (p. 56). Brubeck composed a song in honor of Duke called, “The Duke,” and almost always concluded his concerts with Duke’s theme song, “Take the A Train,” which is written by Billy Strayhorn, Duke’s key collaborator for many years.
“The Race for Space” is an odd gem. It is an undated and hand-annotated typescript of Duke’s thoughts on the early days of space exploration. We are not told if it was ever published and it ends mid-sentence. The thesis, mixed with some joking, is that America was behind the Russians in the space race because of its race problems on earth. This is debatable, but it called attention to matters inescapable for a black person at that time (or now). Duke points to jazz as a model of freedom and invention, “The field of jazz has not yet become an arena of the sort of racial conflicts based on color, national origin and the like (p. 208). He goes on:
Jazz is a good barometer of freedom. When pure jazz is not accepted and pseudo jazz with political and dogmatic coatings take over, you can look for freedom of expression to step out of the picture. In its beginnings the USA spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which, eventually, jazz was evolved and the music is so free that many people say it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country (p. 209).
Jazz broke color barriers before many racially oppressive civil laws were changed. In the beginning years, he played for white-only audiences, but did so with dignity and without rancor. He later added a Puerto Rican valve trombonist to the formerly all-black band, Juan Tizol, who wrote the jazz standards, “Caravan” and “Perdido.” In time, Duke’s audiences as well as his band were racially integrated, and Duke played no small part in that revolution.
Ellington was known not only as a master musician, intrepid band leader (keeping a band together for nearly a half century), and composer, but as an elegant and articulate man, who dressed well and made sure his musicians did the same. He presented an image of blackness that changed many people’s false images for the better. This point is well articulated in Duke’s Ellington’s America by Harvey G. Cohen (University of Chicago Press, 2011).
In the chapter, “The Ellington Magic,” Morgenstern writes of his blessed (his word) interactions with Duke over many years. He highlights that Duke, who referred to himself as “the piano player” in his band, was a masterful pianist, who on rare occasion performed solo or with a trio. Morgenstern witnessed three concerts in which Duke’s “masterful” piano playing was on display. I encourage readers to listen to Ellington’s trio recording, “Piano in the Foreground,” to experience his prowess without the big band surroundings.
I will skip discussing several other fine chapters—all worth reading—and note just one of the many short tributes to Duke. The great composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein said, “The Duke was not only a remarkable composer and performer, but was in himself a significant chapter in the history of American music. I mourn his loss both as a musician and a friend” (p. 220).
My one complaint is that this book says next to nothing about Duke’s religious side. We do find a birthday card Duke wrote in which he drew several crosses (p. 206). But later in his life, between 1965 and 1973, Duke composed three long-form works with explicitly Christian themes, called “sacred concerts.” These combined elements from jazz, classical music, choral music, spirituals, blues, and even dance. (He often performed with dancers in his early career in Harlem.)
These massive works—requiring a large orchestra, a choir, and dancers—were performed in cathedrals and churches around the world. The sacred concerts are only briefly mentioned in the timeline of Duke’s career. Yet he considered these his most important works. Think about that statement. Some of the titles of these compositions are “Supreme Being,” “Almighty God,” “Is God a Three-Letter Word for Love?” and “It’s Freedom.” Duke knew that he didn’t work alone and wanted to share his faith through music in ways that only he could. Janna Tull Steed has written on these themes in Duke Ellington: A Spiritual Biography (Crossroad, 1999).
This multifaceted volume will delight Ellington aficionados and may also serve as an initiation into this life and work for those not yet so blessed. Of course, the test of the music is in the listening. So, I adjure you to listen to Duke Ellington.
Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong are the two jazzmen that Ken Burns follows most prominently in his superb television series, “Jazz” (2000).
You could also drop the first name here and have “Ellington and Louis Armstrong” if you opted for my first suggestion.
Surveying Duke’s timeline of events and achievements from his birth in 1899 to his death in 1974, Steven Brower contributes the longest chapter.
If you are interested in a biography, Teachout’s Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington (2014) is the best.
Written by Douglas Groothuis
New York: Rizzoli, 2015