Duke+Ellington+(3)

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington was born April 29, 1899. He played the piano, and was the best jazz composer, and bandleader of his time. Some people consider his band to be the best in all of Western music. He led his band for almost fifty years. He also composed thousands of scores.

Duke's family grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. He started playing the piano when he was only seven years old. His family was very supportive of his interenst in music and encouraged him. By the time he was seventeen years old he was beginning to perform professionally. In 1923 Duke Ellington played in New York for the first time and enjoyed it so much he moved there as well.

Duke started out playing with a six member band. This grew to ten members quickly. Eventually, his band grew to fourteen members. Some of the most famous members of his band included, Cootie Williams on trumpet, cornetist Rex Stewart, Lawrence Brown on trombone. Duke led his band his entire adult life up to an including the year of this death in 1974. REFERENCES: []

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