Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy « Duke » Ellington · American jazz pianist and composer (1899–1974) · 1899–1974

Appears in 6 videos · 6 passages, 2 of them in depth.

Summary

Dominique Pagani mainly discusses Duke Ellington in his talks on music, where he counts him among the greatest arrangers in jazz1 and describes him as a composer of standards of genius2. He stresses that nobody says a word against him: in his view, Ellington is less a soloist than a catalyst for the talent of others, and something musical always happens with him3. He uses this double fame as pianist and bandleader as a point of comparison when presenting John Lewis4. Speaking of the album Money Jungle, he asks listeners to imagine a shower of banknotes over New York, to illustrate the analogon between the visual and the auditory, and he sees Ellington as the most modern member of the trio5. In a quite different register, he makes him the only aristocrat he has found for Racine's table6.

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.

Who is this?

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Music critic Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer". Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. […]

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Series · 8 Jun 2022Free gold for everyone: Mulligan

2:25No one says a word against him; he is less a soloist than a catalyst for the talent of others, and something musical is always happening around him.