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Questions relating to Duke Ellington
Career and adult life of Duke Ellington.
In the world of jazz music, Duke Ellington is well known and recognized as a talented jazz composer, pianist and bandleader. He has achieved a lot in his career, one of them being able to win 11 Grammy Awards. Here is a short summary of his adult life and career. Duke Ellington did not complete his high school education and instead during his junior years in 1917 he dropped out of school and followed his heart to pursue his dream career in music. He did not attend any piano classes and instead he taught himself mostly through listening to local piano players. As time passed, he started playing piano professionally at a very young age of 17. He was recognized by many as a piano player since he used to participate in playing piano at high school parties. His fame and talent in playing piano, moved him to start composing his own music. His music was good and attracted people of all ages (Ruhlmann). This made him compose even more music
In 1923 he moved from Washington to New York where he settled in a place called Harlem. At this time, he was only 24 years old but very ambitious. In the coming year 1924, Duke Ellington, formed his own band together with other musician that he had met and worked with in Washington. He called the band Washingtonians and he made himself the leader. In 3 years’ time, the band had gained a considerable fan base in Harlem and this enabled them to get many chances to perform at Cotton Club, a popular club in Harlem (pbs.org). In order to reach a larger audience, the Washingtonian band used radio and recordings. This opened more opportunities for the band and in 1931, the band left Cotton Club and started touring Europe and America for performances. According to Duke Ellington, success means achieving and fulfilling one’s dream, passion, and career aspiration and also helping others at the best of your abilities to fulfill their dreams too.
2. Duke’s life principles or methods
Ellington’s dedication to his career and his belief in the abilities of his fellow band members, made him unique and successful. He led the group and in most times he composed most of the music that was played by his orchestra. He was very talented and he used his musical sensitivity and insight to write pieces of music for specific players in his orchestra. He was able to come up with new musical forms which he made by creating personal harmonies and using sound qualities (NHA). He has proven that dedication in one’s career and the believing in your partner’s abilities are core in achieving both personal and group goals. It is very important to establish a good relationship with those you work with regardless of their position. If they feel appreciated, they will dedicate themselves to the course.
Ellington’s creativity and flexibility which he learned at Cotton club helped him develop his career. He was involved in the development of new material at Cotton Club since the shows used to change after every six months. This made him to be more creative and compose more music for the audience and also music that was compatible with his orchestra. His creativity made him unique and redefined how he worked (pbs.org). In 1928, a radio station started by Cotton Club played his songs and made his orchestra popular nationally. This confirms that creativity is key in building a successful and unique career. Creativity can help solve new challenges.
Evaluation of Ellington and his achievements
Duke Ellington managed to achieve many things in his life and career because of his aggressive and ambitious personality. He decided to venture into concert tours after discovering that he had become poplar within a very short period. The rapidly increasing popularity motivated him to start touring the world. Wallington’s frequent travels in foreign countries enabled him to draw a lot of inspiration from trains, people and all the places he visited and this inspiration was important for his works (pbs.org). He travelled for over 16 million kilometers in his extensive tours in the United States and other countries across the world and managed to play in more than 20,000 performances in his global tours (NHA).
After 1932, Ellington embarked on a plan to enlarge his orchestra and his achieved this by increasing the number of band members from 12 to 14 and hiring his future musical collaborator known as Billy Strayhorn, a talented young American arranger who joined the band in 1939. Under his leadership, the band had acquired some of the best American Jazz instrumentalists by 1940. The standard size of a jazz band is considered 18 members and the Dukes band had already expanded to the standard size by the late 1940s. The readiness of Wallington to face challenges made his musical career with Dukes band to be very successful.
Duke was able to overcome all the challenges that he faced in his musical career and become the greatest piano player, bandleader and jazz composer of the twentieth century because of his determination and love for music. The fact that he managed to hold the musicians together for a long period by leading the band for almost 50 years demonstrates his leadership qualities (NHA). All the members of the band enjoyed his achievement because he ensured that other members of th...