Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born in DC in 1899 and grew up in a house which used to stand on what is now Ward Place NW in the West End neighborhood. Both his parents were musicians. And while he was given piano lessons, what he heard in a local poolhall most shaped his young interest in music.
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He stared to play around town and was soon good enough to head to New York. In 1923 he formed his own band called the Washingtonians, of course. He landed a gig at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem. It would last five years and launch Ellington on a recording and a touring career that lasted the rest of his life.
Much of Ellington’s work was done with composer, arranger, and pianist Billy Strayhorn. Strayhorn’s classical training and Ellington’s ability to use his band members to play off each other was a winning combination. He wrote more than 1,000 pieces of music, everything from popular jazz tunes to full suites, making him one of America’s greatest composers.
The Duke took his band across the ocean in the 1970s as a Jazz Ambassador on behalf of the State Department. This was a program designed to promote American values globally. He played in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Many of Ellington’s later albums were influenced by the music he heard on these trips.
On his 70th birthday Richard Nixon threw a black-tie party for Ellington at the White House. He presented him with the Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed on a civilian.
Washington’s memorial to Ellington is the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in the Georgetown neighborhood. Since 1974 it has brought innovation and discipline to training DC’s young artists in the spirit of Ellington.
