Duke Ellington
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The Harlem Renaissance, a literary, musical, and arts movement in New York, occurred during the 1920’s in a place called Harlem. Many writers, musicians, and composers emerged from this period: one of them, a jazz performer and composer named Duke Ellington, was an extremely popular musician during his time. In fact, at any given time his music is probably being heard somewhere in the world today (George 15). Known to many as “one of the musical fathers of our country” (Ellison 86), Duke Ellington changed the course of the music scene was one of the most influential jazz artists during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920’s. With his brilliant musical contributions and his confidence which affected his band members and fans, Duke Ellington was, and still is, looked up to by people all over the world.
Edward Kennedy Ellington began his musical instruction at an early age. A young Duke, who was born to Daisy and James Ellington in April of 1899, began playing the piano after his mother wanted him to start; his family was already very musical. However, piano lessons did not go very well for him. Ellington simply became bored and did not want to continue playing. Later in his life as a teenager, Ellington decided to go back to playing the piano; around this time, he composed his first song entitled “Soda Fountain Rag” when he was only a young teenager (Lawrence 1-15). This piece was also called the “Poodle Dog Rag”, nick-named after the Poodle Dog CafД© where Ellington frequently performed the song. He never wrote the song down and often changed the tempo to appeal to different groups of dancers including the tango and the waltz (Tucker 34). It is interesting to think that the first song Ellington composed was on the piano, since he did not like playing the piano as a child. It is quite possible that he didn’t like the piano when he was younger because his mother wanted him to play it. Once Ellington was older and able to make more decisions for himself, he played the piano because he wanted to, not because he had to. He worked extremely hard to become an excellent pianist.
After marrying and having children, Ellington became the leader of a band called the Washingtonians, also known as the Ellington Band. This was the beginning of Ellington’s career as an influential composer of his time (Lawrence 1-15). When Ellington was only eighteen he was already beginning to earn a living by making music (Tucker 28). Ellington was certainly very dedicated to his music, and this is proven through his actions as the leader of his band.
In the early stages of Duke Ellington’s band, things did not always run smoothly, but Ellington always had the determination to keep going. In the early 1920’s, with a few others included in his band, Ellington entertained at The Hollywood Club (Fox 43). However, in 1925 the club closed because of a fire. During this time, Ellington and his band took the opportunity to travel and perform around New England. The club’s doors were finally opened again as “Club Kentucky”, more often known as the Kentucky Club, and the Washingtonians returned here to perform (Tucker 110). The band was very successful at the Kentucky Club, but eventually they moved their performances to a place called the Cameo Club hoping to do even better. Disappointingly, their music was not welcomed at the Cameo Club and the band was fired. However, Ellington seemed to be the least upset about this; the other members looked up to him because he had confidence that something better would come along. (Lawrence 61). Eventually the band was hired back by the Kentucky Club. Ellington had known that something good would happen, and he had been right. This proves that not only was Ellington an excellent musician, but he was able to keep his head up during the early times in his career where things had not gone as planned. This makes him a wonderful person to look up to besides the fact that he could create incredible music. In Duke Ellington’s head, he would always get through. “For Ellington there was no such thing as losing”. Even when betting on horse races, his friends were impressed when he always won; they later found out that he had bet on every horse in order to win (Lawrence 340). Ellington perhaps found it easy to keep his confidence when his band had been fired because he believed that he could never lose. Ellington was right, because even today he is one of the most well-known musicians ever.
Because of this way of thinking, Ellington’s career was a huge success. Duke Ellington “never complained, he simply smiled and made music” (Ellison 83). It is by this attitude that Ellington was able to gain a tremendous career and become one of the most well-known composers of the early 1900’s. Ellington’s confidence also led him to believe as a child that he would become famous someday and “bow before kings and queens” (Lawrence 6). With his hard work and dedication throughout his lifetime, Ellington’s dreams came true. Even today he is looked up to as one of the greatest composers of jazz music.
In the late 1920’s, a good thing happened for the Ellington band. The band was taking any jobs they could because they were no longer working at the Kentucky Club. Before long, however, they became lucky and were introduced to a new club, the Cotton Club, and were offered a job. Even though the pay was low, they “jumped at the opportunity” (Collier 79).
Over the years, the Duke Ellington band continued to grow and change. Many members left and were replaced, but Ellington stuck with it the entire time. Ellington’s band started out with six members when they were in New York City, then grew to ten when the group moved to perform on Broadway. At the Cotton Club in Harlem in 1932, Ellington decided to increase his band to 14 members, up from a previous ten (Britannica). Duke Ellington and his band were so successful that they spent fifty years together performing music (Americas Library). “With these exceptional musicians Ellington made hundreds of recordings, appeared in films and radio, and toured Europe in 1933 and 1939” (Britannica). Because of his long-term success, Ellington was not just a “one-hit wonder”. He proved that he could stay with music and not just quit the business when things got rough.
The Duke Ellington band became extremely successful at a particular club in Harlem known as the Apollo Theater. Many different musicians had played there. However, “none succeeded better than the Duke Ellington band” (Fox 82). The