After Duke Ellington met Elizabeth II in 1958, he was inspired to write a piece just for her, ‘The Queen’s Suite,’ a progression of sonic images of scenes, thoughts and ideas tied to nature.

On April 29, the world will celebrate D.C. native Duke Ellington’s musical wizardry on the 125th anniversary of his birth. A stylish giant of American music, Ellington wrote and performed jazz ...

Composer Duke Ellington poses for a portrait at the piano in circa 1930. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images. In 1971's Chinoiserie, the 10-bar modal melody harmonized in intervals of fourths is ...

American big band leader and legendary jazz pianist Duke Ellington. (Keystone/Getty Images) Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcasted on Dec. 25, 2024.

3. Ellington was in Mae West’s “Belle of the Nineties.” In 1934, Paramount Pictures released Mae West‘s fourth film, “Belle of the Nineties.” Based on her original story, “It Ain’t ...

While it is Ellington’s name on the album cover, the reason we treat his name as synonymous with jazz is because of the music his band created, writes Sammy Miller.

This year marks 125 years since the birth of jazz legend Duke Ellington. The bandleader, composer and pianist died 50 years ago. In the new book “The Jazzmen,” biographer Larry Tye sets out to ...

But Ellington stayed on one winter night in 1940 for a concert at the Crystal Ballroom that drew about 700 fans who, for the price of $1.30, got to hear the orchestra hitting on all cylinders.

Duke Ellington was one of the most popular and successful jazz musicians of the first half of the 20th century and according to composer Gunther Schuller and musicologist and historian Barry Kernfeld, ...

Born in Washington, D.C., Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington rose to fame at Harlem's Cotton Club in the late 1920s. His career as a musician, composer, and bandleader spanned more than 50 years. Among ...