Duke Ellington Biography - Essay Example

Duke Ellington BiographyDuke Ellington was a 20th century African American musician and composer. He was a prolific writer, composing over 1000 pieces during his lifetime. The main genre associated with Duke Ellington is jazz, although he did branch out into gospel, blues and classical music. He was born in Washington D.C., to parents who encouraged him to be surrounded by important people with style and elegance who would teach him to live well. He began piano lessons from a young age, encouraged by his mother, but at the time he felt that this was not his area.

However, he began to attend concerts and was enthralled by the work of ragtime pianists and from here he began working on his musical style.In 1917, Duke Ellington began his musical career by playing the piano at night. He formed a band, and the drummer of this band later felt it was necessary to move to New York City to join a local orchestra. Duke Ellington followed the drummer, moving to Harlem and becoming an influential figure here, perhaps more so than he had been at home in Washington D.C. In 1924, Duke Ellington made his first eight records, and in 1925 began contributing to the Chocolate Kiddies revue, which was designed to introduce people to African American music.

From here, his career really began to bloom.Duke Ellington became very famous, playing a number of important jazz clubs and even being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. However, unfortunately, he died of lung cancer at the age of 75. Over 12,000 people attended his funeral, including his widow and Ella Fitzgerald, another influential jazz musician of the time. Since his death, Duke Ellington has continued to be recognized as one of the most important figures in 20th century American music and continues to have an influence over jazz and popular music today.