Duke_Ellington

Duke Ellington Edward Ellington "The Duke" The style of jazz made famous by The Duke came to define a decade. He considered himself to be a composer and arranger, rather than just a musician. Although he was a gifted piano player, his orchestra was his real weapon. The Duke never could have imagined the impact his vision would have on the future of music. Duke began playing music professionally in Washington, D.C. in 1917. His piano technique was influenced by stride piano players like James P. Johnson, and Willie "The Lion" Smith. He first visited New York in 1922 playing with Wilbur Sweatman, but the trip was unsuccessful. He returned to New York again in 1923, but this time with a group of friends from Washington D.C. They worked for a while with banjoist Elmer Snowden until there was a disagreement over missing money. Ellington then became the leader. This group was called The Washingtonians. The Washingtonians worked at "The Hollywood Club" in Manhattan. During this time the trumpet player Bubber Miley joined the band, bringing with him his unique plunger mute style of playing. This sound came to be called the "Jungle Sound", and it was largely responsible for Ellington's early success. The group recorded their first record in 1924, but the band didn't hit band, music, ellington, jazz, orchestra, after, first, ellington's, duke, club, time, style, playing, over, new, louis, even, came, armstrong, york, worked, washingtonians, washington, until, top, tan, swing, sound, song, rest, recorded, player, piano, musicians, made, grow, group, gave, famous, edward, death, dc, cotton, continued, career, called, black, began, became, 1970s, 1931