MP3 Exclusives New Arrivals   Alt-Country Alternative Blues Electronic Jambands Jazz Metal Pop Punk R&B Rap/Hip Hop Reggae Rock   Top Downloads Features Archive Contests Control Panel MUSICBLITZ Alert!   METALBLITZ REGGAEBLITZ BLUESBLITZ Musician's Friend   Alt-Country Alternative Blues Electronic Jambands Jazz Hip Hop Metal Pop Punk R&B Reggae Rock   Getting Started Free Players	Welcome !      Duke Ellington As a composer, pianist, bandleader, and arranger, Duke Ellington stands almost without peer. His run at the top spanned more than 40 years, outlasting untold challengers, and he contributed hundreds of tunes -- many of them undisputed classics -- to the American popular songbook. Edward Kennedy Ellington started playing piano at age 7, and the Washington, D.C. native was already leading his own bands as a teenager. Bigger things awaited in New York, and by 1926 Duke (a childhood nickname) had his first version of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, an 11-piece lineup that featured trumpeter Bubber Miley and trombonist Tricky Sam Nanton, and a catchy theme: “East Saint Louis Toodeloo.” The next year Ellington and his band got a residency at the legendary Cotton Club, and radio broadcasts from the club helped Ellington gain widespread fame (he was in his first film, Black and Tan, in 1930). The ‘30s seemed like one long string of Ellington classics, including “It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” “Mood Indigo,” “In A Sentimental Mood,” and at least a dozen others. Gifted arranger Billy Strayhorn joined up in the ‘40s and became Ellignton’s right hand man, and the orchestra survived the birth of bop and the breakup of many big bands, always importing top new players like tenor saxophonist Ben Webster and trumpeter Cat Anderson. Ellington weathered the defection of saxman Johnny Hodges and some other members in the early ‘50s, and after a stunning performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956, the Orchestra was back on top again. He and Strayhorn moved from pop hits like “Satin Doll” to more thematic and ambitious compositions, including several suites, some with a religious theme. Strayhorn’s death in 1967, however, left a huge void, and while the orchestra continued into the early ‘70s, Ellington’s health gave out in 1974, when he died of cancer. But public appreciation for his massive legacy has only increased since his passing, and he is undoubtedly one of the half-dozen most important figures in American musical history.     Duke Ellington Satin Doll (Live) MP3 Jazz Lost for decades, this live-from-NYC track gives a rare glimpse of Duke and his orchestra when lots of folks weren’t listening -- but you should!
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