Duke Ellington, 1899-1974                                                   

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in Washington, D.C.  His parents played the piano and exposed their son to the instrument at an early age. They also taught him the importance of proper manners, and the self-confident, sharp-dressing boy was nicknamed “Duke” by his friends because of his aristocratic bearing.   

Before he was 20 years old, Ellington formed his first jazz band, “The Duke’s Serenaders,” that performed in and around Washington. In March, 1923, when bandleader Wilbur Sweatman invited Duke to join his band, Ellington moved to New York. 

Ellington soon branched out on his own.  On July 26, 1923, his group made its first recording at the Victor studio under the name “Snowden’s Novelty Orchestra.”  Although the recording was never issued, it marked the beginning of Ellington’s legacy as a recording artist.

Duke Ellington may have recorded for Gennett as pianist with the Sweatman band in 1924.
However, it is certain that on March 30, 1926, at the Manhattan studio, “Duke Ellington and His Orchestra” recorded “(You’ve Got Those) Wanna-Go-Back-Again Blues” and “If You Can’t Hold the Man You Love.”  Then, on June 21, 1926, under the name “Duke Ellington and His Washingtonians,” they recorded several pieces including “Li’l Farina,” which is a transitional recording for the band.  Ellington arranged and possibly composed this piece. Joe “Tricky Sam” Nanton on trombone and Bubber Miley on trumpet used the growl technique in their solos, a style that would partly define the Ellington sound in later years.  These recordings reflect the sources of Ellington’s musical inspiration:  Louis Armstrong, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman, black musical theater, popular song, New Orleans, and the “jungle” style of Bubber Miley.  Also evident is Ellington’s development as a bandleader and an arranger.

Ellington’s final recordings at Gennett New York came in the fall of 1926, when he paired with saxophonist Otto Hardwick to accompany Alberta Jones.  On these recordings, Ellington and Hardwick were billed as the “Ellington Twins”.  This role as accompanist and the pairing up with other musicians points to Ellington’s future.   He would later collaborate with some of the biggest names in jazz history: Billy Strayhorn, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie. 

Ellington once said, “I am not playing jazz, I am trying to play the natural feelings of a people.”  The Gennett recordings, made early in his career, helped shape Ellington into the musical giant that he became, a man who wrote and played the music of the people.

Author:David Fulton, Ph.D

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