BONUS-EVENING-BLACK HISTORY MONTH SHARE OF THE DAY

Black History: 100 Greatest Black Musicians of All Time

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6. Duke Ellington. Why he’s this high on the list: I believe “Sir Duke” Ellington is the greatest bandleader of all time. Born in 1899, he led his orchestra from 1923 until his death in 1974. He was a true leader in the sense that he often showcased the other musicians in his band, giving them featured spotlights and recording songs that highlighted their contributions. Several of those musicians remained with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra throughout.

Although he was a true jazz pioneer, the late Ellington was a reluctant jazz artist in that he didn’t like his music being pigeonholed in the genre, preferring instead to have his music referred to as “American Music.” For a time, especially during the 1920s and ’30s, his was the most popular brand of American music out there.

Duke Ellington gained fame in the 1920s as part of the Harlem Renaissance and particularly during his famous residency at the Cotton Club there. He was a pianist and composer who worked with many legendary musicians – several whose legends he helped create. He could excel at giving you three-minute short sides, or longer pieces that sometimes took up to four sides of a two-record set to record.

In the 1930s, Ellington introduced us to Billie Holiday (who sang on his “A Rhapsody of Negro Life,” from his short film Symphony in Black, which won an Academy Award for its category). He also later performed or recorded with Count Basie, John Coltrane, and Ella Fitzgerald – the latter of whom paid tribute to him with her “Great American Songbook” contribution, Duke Ellington Songbook.

Other tributes to him include Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” which was recorded two years after his death and reached #1 on both pop and soul charts, and the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies, which was based on Ellington’s music.

A fellow American jazz artist and music historian who died just two weeks ago, Gunther Alexander Schuller, wrote of Ellington 25 years ago:

Ellington composed incessantly to the very last days of his life. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. In jazz he was a giant among giants. And in 20th Century music, he may yet be recognized as one of the half-dozen greatest masters of all time.

With this ranking of #6 on the Greatest Black Artists list, it’s safe to say I agree with him.

Memorable songs: “Black and Tan Fantasy,” “Mood Indigo,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Cocktails for Two,” “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Black, Brown and Beige” and “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.”

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