Sometime in late middle school-early high school, I discovered that the local library had CDs available for checkout. I liked playing in the school jazz band, so I picked up a few jazz CDs. The music of Duke (Edward Kennedy) Ellington was one of them. Or maybe he was on a compilation, I can't remember. Either way, I had discovered a legend.
And he is a legend. Even though he died in 1974, he is one of the leading jazz masters of our time. In 1966, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he received 13 Grammy Awards throughout his lifetime.
Ellington did more than just write jazz songs. He wrote whole jazz suites, including Black, Brown and Beige in 1943, and The Nutcracker Suite in 1960. The latter is wonderful, turning selected Nutcracker melodies into candy-themed songs. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" becomes "Sugar Rum Cherry" and "Arabian Dance" becomes an "Arabesque Cookie". The same treatment was given to Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite.
The Duke's most famous tunes are now jazz standards. Mood Indigo, Satin Doll, It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing, Sophisticated Lady, and In A Mellotone. From compositions by his band members (Jaun Tizol and Billy Strayhorn) come Perdido, Caravan, and Take the A Train.
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