Comparison Of Duke Ellington's Life And Music

It was the year of 1899 on the day April 29 when Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born. This talented musician was born in the city of Washington D.C. Growing up Edward had two big musical performers that had a big influence on his life, which was his mom and dad. At an early age Edward took liking to playing the piano. “Young Edward started piano lessons with a local teacher, unforgettably called Mrs. Clinkscales, at the age of about eleven.” (Bradbury, 2005). For his smooth playing of instruments and gentlemen ways Edward would soon earn the nicknamed Duke. At a very young age of fifth-teen Duke had written his very first composition known as the Soda Fountain Rage. This great composition was inspired by his first job being a soda jerk.
He would comprise many great masterpieces such as Concerto for Cootie, Cotton Tail, KO-KO, It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t got That Swing, Sophisticated Lady, Solitude, etc. For great hits like Duke would find himself earning a total of twenty-two Grammy nominations and a grand total of eleven Grammy awards actually won. Duke’s great sense of musical taste is what made him the artist that he was. He was an artist that stood out to people. He gave his audience no matter who they were a great and new experience in every performance he gave with his great blending of musical notes and melodies. Duke is seen in today’s society as a main figure who help developed what jazz music is in today’s musical world. During a time when African Americans were not fully treated equally, Duke still manage to expand his career for more than half century achieving many great achievements with the love of his
People who are upcoming or currently musician, jazz fans, or anyone who loves music would find this book useful. This book and its information was well researched and has many great tools within it. In the back of the book it has a useful index that allows the reader to have the page number of certain time periods, people, and places with the exact page number. It also has this great Chronology that gives a timeline of Duke Ellington’s life in full. The main focus of this book is mainly a biography, but within the book it has small analysis certain music pieces that Duke engaged with. From this book I learned from the classical music world that anyone can become successful in whatever you do as long as put I the work that it takes to reach that success, and Duke Ellington was a great example of