Duke Ellington
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Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington 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 "Ame
Publicity portrait, c. 1940s
British pressing of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (1927)
Adelaide Hall recorded "Creole Love Call" with Ellington in 1927. The recording became a worldwide hit.
Ellington at the Hurricane Club, Broadway & West 51st Street, New York City, May 1943
Mercer Ellington
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Mercer Kennedy Ellington was an American musician, composer, and arranger. His father was Duke Ellington, whose band Mercer led for 20 years after his father's death.
Duke Ellington
…issued on their Bluebird label, three-minute masterpieces on 78 rpm record sides continued to flow from Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's son Mercer Ellington, and members of the orchestra. "Cotton Tail", "Main Stem", "Harlem Air Shaft", "Jack the Bear", and dozens of others date from this period. Strayhorn's…
Ellington in concert at the University of Rochester, 1975, photo by Tom Marcello