About the artist
Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist and bandleader who stands as one of the towering figures in the history of jazz. Born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C., he began piano lessons as a child and earned his nickname for his refined, gentlemanly manner. He led his orchestra for decades, most famously during a long residency at Harlem’s Cotton Club, which gave him a national platform and helped define big-band jazz for a generation.
Ellington composed thousands of works across his career, moving fluidly between dance-hall entertainment, concert-hall ambition and popular songcraft. He is remembered for shaping a signature ensemble sound built around the individual voices of his longtime musicians, and for standards such as «Sophisticated Lady», «Mood Indigo», «Satin Doll» and «It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)», the latter helping crystallize swing as both a musical style and a cultural attitude.
Beyond the dancefloor hits, Ellington pursued extended suites and sacred concerts late in life, treating jazz composition with the same seriousness as classical music while never abandoning its roots in blues and swing. His influence extends across jazz, popular song and orchestral composition, and his body of work remains a foundational reference point for musicians and listeners alike.
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Discography
Early Duke Ellington 1927-1940 Vol. 1
2012
My People (The Complete Show)
2012
The Best of Duke Ellington (1932-1939)
2008
Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band
2003
Golden Greats
2002
The Great Summit: The Master Takes
2000
The Ellington Legacy
1999
The Duke - The Essential Collection (1927-1962)
1999
The Best of the Duke Ellington Centennial Collection
1999
Cornell University Concert
1995
Greatest Hits
1990
Braggin’ in Brass: The Immortal 1938 Year
1989
The Private Collection, Volume One: Studio Sessions, Chicago 1956
1988
Unknown Session
1979
Up in Duke’s Workshop
1979
The Intimate Ellington
1977
Duke Ellington 1938
1976
The Ellington Suites
1976
Jazz Violin Session
1976
Third Sacred Concert: The Majesty of God
1975
The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse
1975
This One’s for Blanton
1975
Duke’s Big 4
1974
Recollections of the Big Band Era
1974
The World of Duke Ellington
1974
The Pianist
1974
Duke Ellington Presents Ivie Anderson
1973
It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing
1973
Latin American Suite
1972
New Orleans Suite
1971
Ella & Duke At the Cote d’Azur
Flaming Youth
1969
Francis A. & Edward K.
1968
...And His Mother Called Him Bill
1968
Far East Suite
1967
Ella at Duke’s Place
1966
Concert of Sacred Music
1966
The Popular Duke Ellington
1966
Will Big Bands Ever Come Back?
1965
Concert in the Virgin Islands
1965
Ellington ’66
1965
Ellington ’65
1965
Daybreak Express
1964
My People
1964
Plays with the Original Motion Picture Score: Mary Poppins
1964
Afro-Bossa
1963
Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
1963
Piano in the Foreground
1963
Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins
1963
Money Jungle
1962
The Indispensable Duke Ellington
1961
First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
1961
The Nutcracker Suite
1960
Piano in the Background
1960
Blues In Orbit
1960
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suites No. 1 & 2, Ellington / Strayhorn: Suite Thursday
1960
Anatomy of a Murder: From the Sound Track of the Motion Picture
1959
Ellington Jazz Party
1959
Back to Back
1959
Side By Side
1959
Festival Session
1959
Black, Brown and Beige
1958
Ellington Indigos
1958
Such Sweet Thunder
1957
Duke Ellington Presents
1956
Historically Speaking - The Duke
1956
Ellington ’55
1955
The Duke Plays Ellington
1954
Dance To The Duke!
1954
Ellington Uptown
1953