Duke Ellington

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DUKE ELLINGTON
Arts
Born: April 29, 1899
Washington D.C.
Died: May 24, 1974

"Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young."

Duke (Edward Kennedy) Ellington, American jazz pianist, composer and orchestra leader, was instrumental in shaping the most distinctive and resourceful large jazz orchestra in America. He created a large body of original jazz compositions, and he also wrote many popular songs, including Sophisticated Lady, Mood Indigo and Solitude. By the time Ellington was 50, he had earned so much money from his music that he could have retired, but total commitment to music made him continue to write and perform until the end of his life. He was passed over for a Pulitzer price in 1965 to which the then 66-year old Ellington remarked: "Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young." Ellington considered his music the reaffirmation of his Afro American musical heritage as well as a personal chronicle of his life.


1. Duke Ellington was born in what city?


2. Ellington once said, "Fate doesn't want me to be too _________ too young."


3. What instrument did Ellington play?


4. Ellington created a large body of original _________ compositions.


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