(This is the first part of a three-part series. Read the second part.) Duke Ellington, whose contours have something of the swell and sweep of a large, erect bear and whose color is that of coffee ...

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 ...