Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and conductor of a jazz orchestra, which he conducted from 1923 until his death in a career that spanned over fifty years. Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington lived in New York from the mid-1920s onward and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s his orchestra toured Europe. Although widely considered a seminal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase "beyond the category" as a liberating principle and referred to his music as part of the more general category of American music, rather than a musical genre. like jazz. At the age of seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his good manners and teach him to live elegantly. Ellington's childhood friends noted that his casual and easy manner, his easy grace, and his elegant dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman,[9] and began calling him "Duke". Ellington attributed the nickname to his friend Edgar McEntree. "I think he thought that in order to benefit from his constant company, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."[10]Some of the musicians who were members of Ellington's orchestra, such as saxophonist Johnny Hodges, are considered among the best jazz performers. Ellington fused them into the best-known orchestral unit in the history of jazz. Some members remained in the orchestra for several decades. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington often composed specifically to characterize the style and abilities of his individual musicians. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Duke took the stage to the tune of Strayhorn's "Take the A Train," which had become Ellington's theme song, and addressed the audience in a typically sly manner: "You're very beautiful, very sweet, very kind, very generous, and all the guys in the band want you to know that we love you madly." And with that, the orchestra launches into a full-blown version of “Take the A Train,” a feature by trumpet star Cootie Williams. This famous piece opens with a rare piano trio performance in waltz time with Duke accompanied by drummer Dick Wilson and bassist Jeff Castleman. Coming out of this surprising arrangement, they neatly follow the more familiar 4/4 time and move through a few more choruses before the full big band finally enters with the familiar, swaggering theme. Tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves will then be featured in the frenetic up-tempo workout "Up Jump". As Ellington tells the crowd in characteristically mischievous fashion, "Paul Gonzalves, you may recall, was arrested in 1956 at the Newport Jazz Festival and indicted for arson," a reference to his incredible 27 solo choruses in "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" at the historic appearance by Ellington at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival. And while this solo may not reach those lofty heights, it is a prime showcase for Gonsalves, moaning with hoarse abandon above this kinetic play. Often collaborating with others, Ellington wrote more than a thousand compositions; His vast body of work constitutes the greatest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his works have become standards. Ellington also recorded songs written by his musicians, for example "Caravan" and "Perdido" by Juan Tizol, which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. After 1941, Ellington collaborated with the.