Co-written in 1927 with his trumpet specialist "Bubber" Miley
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Edward Kennedy Ellington was a famous bandleader of jazz orchestras, a composer, and pianist that was born on April 29th 1899 in Washington D.C.
When one of his drummers got the chance to join the Wilber Sweatman orchestra in New York, Duke decided to go with him and made the move to Harlem. In September of 1927 when King Oliver turned down a deal with the Cotton Club, the offer was soon passed to Ellington but he would have to go from a six to eleven piece group to meet the requirements to audition for the Cotton Club. During the late 1930's and early 1940's Ellington's frequent traveling in foreign countries made him a favorite across seas. After World War 2 the music industry was starting to focus more on solo vocalists like Frank Sinatra. In 1951 Ellington lost a significant number of members in his band. By 1955 Duke lacked a regular recording affiliation after three years of recording for Capitol. Ellington's career was revived after his band and him played Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue, at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. By the late 50's Duke began working on film soundtracks for movies like Paris Blues and Anatomy of a Murder. In the early 60's Ellington started to work with many old rivals and new musicians, plus he started new relationships with artists from different parts of the world like South African musician Dollar Brand and Swedish vocalist Alice Babs. The late 1960's were kind to Ellington, with him receiving multiple awards like the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Legion of Honor and the Grammy lifetime Achievement Award. On March 20th of 1974 Ellington performed his last "full" concert even though he had two more stage appearances before his death. On the 24th of May in 1974 Mr.Edward Kennedy Ellington died of pneumonia and lung cancer in New York City, at his funeral Ella Fitzgerald said "It's a very sad day. A genius has passed." |