Duke Elington

4 Pages 942 Words

The name is monumental in the world of jazz, who else but Duke Ellington would come to mind when thinking of the music that formed the 1920’s and shaped later music to what it is today. Undoubtedly one of the most accomplished musicians of all time and the forefront leader of the jazz world. Duke didn't always have music on his mind though.
Duke, Born Edward Kennedy Ellington was born April 29th ,1899 the son of James
William Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. They lived In Washington, moving out of the deep south just prior to Dukes birth to escape failing agriculture and the implementation of the Jim Crow laws. They lived comfortably in the middle class.
Duke was given his nickname by his friends and family, and it stuck with him throughout his life. As a child Duke’s family listened to music that had black roots such as ragtime. The family considered jazz something to radical, new and vulgar though for there sophistication so it did not have a strong presence in his early childhood. When Duke was about seven his parents had arranged for him to take piano lessons. This at the time was seemingly not for him as it did not stick long. He would rather spend his free time outside playing sports such as baseball. His first job actually came as a peanut concession sales men for the Washington Senators, this served as a valuable experiance as good practice for the boy entertaining people.
Duke’s interest in becoming involved in music developed around the age of thirteen when he realized that music could be used to gain popularity in a growing age of girls and parties. He set off in search of music lessons on his own rather than asking his parents for an instructor who would teach him unimportant things and have him practice them for hours on end, he decided to do things his own way. He began to hang around Frank Holliday’s hang out the Pool Room which was next to the famous Howard Theater. As well as being home to some of the...