Duke Ellington

At 75 years old, Duke Ellington has this physical status:

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, born in 1899, was a member of a jazz orchestra in Washington, D.C., who died after his tenure spanned more than six decades.

His orchestra toured in Europe in the 1930s.

Ellington, who was widely believed to have been a key figure in jazz history, adopted the term "beyond category" rather than referring to his music as a part of American Music rather than a musical style such as jazz.

Ellington melded them into the best-known orchestral unit in jazz history.

Several members of the orchestra have been with the orchestra for many decades.

Ellington, a master at creating miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording style, composed more than 1,000 pieces; his extensive body of work is his largest recorded personal jazz legacy, with several of his pieces gaining attention.

Ellington has performed songs written by his bandsmen, including Juan Tizol's "Caravan" and "Perpeto," which brought a Spanish twist to big band jazz.

Ellington began a nearly thirty-year relationship with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he referred to as his writing and arranging companion in the early 1940s.

Strayhorn produced many extended compositions, suites, as well as additional short works.

Ellington and his orchestra underwent a major revival and embarked on international tours following their appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1956.

Ellington performed in several film, directed many, and wrote a handful of stage musicals. Ellington was known for his inventive use of the orchestra, or large band, as well as his eloquence and charisma.

His name continued to rise after he died, and he was given a prestigious Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music in 1999.

Early life and education

Ellington was born in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1899, to James Edward Ellington and Daisy (Kennedy) Ellington. Both his parents were pianists. Daisy mainly performed parlor songs, and James preferred operatic arias. They lived in 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place), NW, in Washington, D.C.'s West End neighborhood. Duke's father was born in Lincolnton, North Carolina, on April 15, 1879, and he and his parents immigrated to Washington, D.C. in 1886. Daisy Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1879, the daughter of two enslaved Americans. James Ellington designed blueprints for the United States Navy.

As Edward Ellington was a child, they showed racial pride and support in their family's house, as did many other families. African Americans in Washington, D.C., sought to shield their children from the Jim Crow laws of the 1950s.

Ellington started playing piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales at age seven. Daisy surrounded her son with opulent women to improve his demeanor and teach him elegance. His childhood friends discovered that his casual, offhand demeanor, and dapper attire gave him the appearance of a young nobleman, so they began to call him "Duke." Ellington credited his friend Edgar McEntee for the name: "I believe he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his continuing companionship, he should have a name." So he called me Duke."

Despite the fact that Ellington took piano lessons, he was more interested in baseball. "President Roosevelt (Theodore) would ride his horse occasionally and then sit down and watch us play," he said. Ellington started working at Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, D.C., where he sold peanuts at Washington Senators baseball games.

At the age of 14, Ellington began sneaking into Frank Holiday's Poolroom. Ellington's passion for the piano was ignited by the music of the poolroom pianists, and he began to study piano seriously. Among the many piano players he listened to were Doc Perry, Lester Dishman, Turner Layton, Gertie Wells, Clarence Bowser, Sticky Mack, Cliff Jackson, Cliff Jackson, Matthew Bennett, Mathey Roberts, Eubie Blake, Eubie Blake, Joe Rochester, and Harvey Brooks.

Ellington wrote his first poem, "Soda Fountain Rag" (also known as the "Poodle Dog Rag) in 1914, when working as a soda jerk at the Poodle Dog Café. He made the piece by ear because he had not yet learned to read and write music. Ellington wrote, "I would play the 'Soda Fountain Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox trot." "Listeners had no idea it was the same thing." "I was first established as having my own repertoire." Ellington wrote that Music is my Mistress (1973), he said he missed more lessons than he attended, despite the fact that piano wasn't his forte at the time.

Ellington continued listening, watching, and imitating ragtime pianists, not only in Washington, D.C., but also in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, where he and his mother spent the summer together. Some people who couldn't afford much sheet music would often perform strange songs, so variations were played on the sheets. Henry Lee Grant, a Dunbar High School music teacher, gave him private lessons in harmony. Ellington learned to read sheet music, create a professional look, and refine his technique with the additional guidance of Washington pianist and band leader Oliver "Doc" Perry. Ellington was also inspired by his first encounters with stride pianists James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. Will Marion Cook, Fats Waller, and Sidney Bechet all aided him in New York later in the day. He began playing in cafés and clubs in Washington, D.C., so much so that in 1916, he turned down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He dropped out of Armstrong Manual Training School, where he was studying commercial art three months before graduating.

Personal life

Edna Thompson, Jr., was born in 1918, when Ellington married him on July 2, 1918, when he was 19 years old. Edna's only son, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born in 1919, in the spring.

Ellington was first welcomed by his wife and son in New York City in the late twenties, but the couple were soon divorced permanently. She was "home sick for Washington" and returned, according to her obituary in Jet magazine. Ellington, who travelled with him in 1929, influenced songs like "Sophisticated Lady" and raised his son.

In 1938, he separated his family (his son was 19) and moved in with Beatrice "Evie" Ellis, a Cotton Club employee. The couple's friendship, although tumultuous, continued after Ellington met and established a friendship with Fernanda de Castro Monte in the early 1960s. Ellington was a fan of both women for the remainder of his life.

Ruth (1915–2004), Ellington's sister, later owned Tempo Music, his music publishing company. Ruth's second husband was the bass-baritone McHenry Boatwright, who she met at her brother's funeral. As an adult, Mercer Ellington (d. 1996) played trumpet and piano, toured his own band, and served as his father's business manager.

Ellington, a freemason associated with Prince Hall Freemasonry, was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha.

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Career

Ellington began assembling groups of dancers when he was working as a freelance sign painter from 1917. He met drummer Sonny Greer from New Jersey, who boosted Ellington's aspirations to be a professional musician in 1919. Ellington developed his music career from his day job. If a customer asked him to make a sign for a dance or a reception, he'd ask if they had musical entertainment; if not, Ellington would play for the occasion. He had also worked in the US Navy and State departments, where he made a variety of contacts.

Ellington as he became a well-known pianist, he moved out of his parents' house and bought his own. He appeared in other ensembles at first and formed "The Duke's Serenaders" in late 1917, his first group ("Colored Syncopators" was announced in his telephone directory advertisements. He was also the company's booking agent. His first play date was at the True Reformer's Hall, where he took home 7 cents.

Ellington entertained for private society balls and embassy parties throughout the Washington, D.C. area and Virginia. Otto Hardwick, a childhood friend who started playing the string bass, went to C-melody sax, and eventually settled on alto saxophone; Arthur Whetsel on trumpet; and Sonny Greer on drums. The band thrived, performing for both African American and white audiences, which was unusual in today's segregated society.

Ellington, a drummer from Washington, D.C., left his fruitful career in Washington, D.C., and Harlem, eventually becoming a part of the Harlem Renaissance. The Charleston appeared in Harlem, as well as African American musical theater, including Eubie Blake's and Noble Sissle's (the former of whom was his neighbor) Shuffle Along. The young musicians left the Sweatman Orchestra to strike out on their own, finding a burgeoning jazz scene with a difficult inroad. They worked in a pool by day and then went to whatever gig they could find. Willie "The Lion" Smith, a young jazz pianist, welcomed them to the scene and gave them some money, was the young band's first encounter. They were all about rent-houses for money. The young musicians returned to Washington, D.C., feeling dissatisfied after a few months.

They appeared in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and then at Harlem's prestigious Exclusive Club in June 1923. This was followed by a move to the Hollywood Club (at 49th and Broadway) and a four-year engagement, giving Ellington a solid artistic base in September 1923. He was known to play the bugle at the end of every performance. The group was originally called Elmer Snowden and his Black Sox Orchestra, and it had seven members, including trumpeter James "Bubber" Miley. The Washingtonians were renamed. In early 1924, Snowden left the group, and Ellington took over as the group's leader. The Club Kentucky was re-opened as the Kentucky Club following a fire (often referred to as the Kentucky Club).

Ellington set eight records in 1924 and received composing credit on three of them, including "Choo Choo." Ellington performed four songs in Chocolate Kiddies, which introduced European audiences to African American styles and performers in 1925. Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra grew to a group of ten players; they created their own sound by a non-traditional interpretation of Ellington's arrangements, Harlem's street rhythms, and the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealing trumpets, and saxophone blues licks of the band members. For a short time, soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet worked with them, becoming the group's most popular character, with Sonny Greer saying Bechet "fitted out the band like a glove." Miley and trombonist Charlie Irvis, whose styles differed from Bechet's New Orleans influenced playing, became entangled. It was mainly Bechet's inability: he was out for three days in a row, which made his relationship with Ellington short lived.

Ellington signed an agreement with agent-publisher Irving Mills in October 1926, ensuring Mills had a 45% interest in Ellington's future. Mills was on the lookout for new talent and published compositions by Hoagy Carmichael, Dorothy Fields, and Harold Arlen early in their careers. Ellington's signing with Mills allowed him to record prolifically after appearing on a handful of acoustic sides between 1924-26. However, he did produce different versions of the same tune at times. Mills obtained a co-composer credit on a daily basis. Mills arranged recording sessions on virtually every brand, including Brunswick, Victor, Columbia, OKeh, Pathé (and its affiliate, Perfect), The ARC/Plaza group of labels (Cameo, Lincoln, Romeo), and Columbia's cheaper labels (Harmony, Diva, Clarion), which earned Ellington high praise. His records on OKeh were usually referred to as the Harlem Footwarmers. In comparison, the Brunswick's were usually published as The Jungle Band. Whoopee Makers and the Ten BlackBerries were among the pseudonyms.

King Oliver refused to do a regular booking as the house band at Harlem's Cotton Club in September 1927, and the request was sent to Ellington after Jimmy McHugh suggested that he and Mills arranged an audition. Ellington was expected to expand from six to eleven pieces for the audition, and the engagement officially began on December 4. The Cotton Club's mainly white and wealthy clientele poured in nightly to see them, with a weekly radio broadcast. The Ellington's group performed all the revues, including comedy, dance numbers, vaudeville, burlesque, music, and illegal alcohol. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields' words were composed by Jimmy McHugh (later Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler), with some Ellington originals mixed in. (Here, he took in his second wife Mildred Dixon as a dancer). Ellington's national broadcasting received national coverage this week. Ellington also recorded Fields-JMcHugh and Fats Waller-Andy Razaf songs at the same time.

Though trumpeter Bubber Miley was only a member of the orchestra for a short time, he had a major influence on Ellington's sound. Miley changed the sweet dance band sound of the group to one that was more upbeat, which contemporaries referred to as Jungle Style, which can be seen in his film chorus in East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (1926). Ellington and his Orchestra performed several compositions with Adelaide Hall in October 1927. "Cheer Love Call," a worldwide hit, was a hit for both Ellington and Hall. The bulk of "Chester Love Call" and "Black and Tan Fantasy" were written by Miley. Miley, a recovering alcoholic, had to leave the band before gaining greater success. He died in 1932 at the age of 29, but he had a major influence on Cootie Williams, who later replaced him.

The Cotton Club Orchestra appeared on stage for several months in Florenz Ziegfeld's Show Girl, as well as vaudeville's Jimmy Durante, Eddie Foy, Jr., Ruby Keeler, and George Gershwin and Gus Kahn, as well as musicians and lyrics by George Gershwin and Gus Kahn. Ellington was recommended for the performance by Will Vodery, Ziegfeld's musical director. "Perhaps during the reign of Show Girl, Ellington received what he later described as "valuable lessons in orchestration from Will Vody," according to John Edward Hasse's Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington, Barry Ulanov wrote in his 1946 biography, "Due Ellington, Barry Ulanov" wrote: "Due Ellington, a poet, wrote: "Damne Ellington, Barry Ulanov wrote: 'British, 1956"

Ellington's film career began with Black and Tan (1929), a 19-minute African RKO short in which he portrayed the hero "Duke." He appeared in the Amos 'n' Andy film Check and Double Check, which also features the orchestra playing "Old Man Blues" in an extended ballroom scene. Ellington and his Orchestra performed at a concert with Maurice Chevalier this year, as well as at the Roseland Ballroom, "America's biggest ballroom." Percy Grainger, an Australian-born composer, was a pioneer and a supporter. "Bach, Delius, and Duke Ellington were three of the three greatest composers who ever lived," he wrote. Bach is sick, Delius is sick, but we are able to have The Duke with us today. Ellington's first period at the Cotton Club came to an end in 1931.

Ellington led the orchestra by playing from the keyboard using piano cues and artistic gestures; only rarely did he use a baton. He had six brass instruments, four reeds, and a rhythm section of four players by 1932. Ellington, the king, was not a strict disciplinarian; he retained influence of his orchestra with a mixture of charm, humor, flattery, and astute psychology. He confided his feelings to only his closest family members. He effectively diverted attention away from himself.

Ellington went straight to Brunswick in 1932 and remained with them until late 1936 (although during a brief 1933–34 switch to Victor, when Irving Mills temporarily moved his acts from Brunswick).

The recording industry was in danger as the Great Depression raged, with over 90% of its artists downing by 1933. In 1931, Ivie Anderson was hired as the Ellington Orchestra's featured vocalist. She is the singer on "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) (1932) among other recordings. In a cross-talk interview with Anderson, Sonny Greer had been giving occasional vocals and had been active in a cross-talk feature. When Ellington's orchestra began to tour, radio exposure helped maintain the orchestra's public image. "Mood Indigo" (1930), "Sophisticated Lady" (1933), "Solitude" (1934), and "In a Sentimental Mood" (1935) are among the other 78s of the period.

Although Ellington's United States audience remained mainly African in this period, the orchestra had a large following overseas. They travelled to England and Scotland in 1933, as well as France (three concerts at the Salle Pérez in Paris) and the Netherlands before returning to New York. The Duke Ellington Orchestra made its British debut at the London Palladium on June 12, 1933; Ellington received an ovation as he walked on stage. They were one of 13 acts on the bill and were limited to eight short numbers; they were available until June 24. Ellington received praise from members of the serious music community, including composer Constant Lambert, which gave Ellington's hope of composing longer works a boost.

His longer pieces had already appeared. Ellington had written and recorded "Chapsody" as early as 1931 (issued as both directions of a 12" record for Victory and both sides of a 10" record for Brunswick). Since her death in 1935, a tribute to his mother, "Reminiscing in Tempo," took the top 10" record sides to record. A Symphony in Black (also 1935), a short film, was based on his extended piece 'A Rhapsody of Negro Life.' It was born Billie Holiday and received the Academy Award for the Best Musical Short Subject. Ellington and his Orchestra appeared in Murder at the Vanities and Belle of the Nineties (both 1934).

Agent Mills' attention flocked at a national level as Ellington's international presence was evident. They avoided some of the traveling difficulties of African Americans by touring in private railcars on the band's tour through the segregated South in 1934. These provided accessible accommodations, dining, and storage for equipment while avoiding the stigma of segregated facilities.

However, the competition escalated as swing bands like Benny Goodman's started to be adored. Swing dancing became a youth phenomenon, particularly among white college audiences, and danceability drove record sales and bookings. Jukeboxes have flourished around the country, spreading the word of swing. Ellington's band could certainly swing, but their strengths were tone, nuance, and richness of composition, hence his expression "jazz is music, swing is business."

Ellington began recording with smaller groups (sextets, octets, and nonets) derived from his then-15-man orchestra beginning in 1936. As with Johnny Hodges' "Yearning for Love" for Lawrence Brown, "Songs of Harlem" for Cootie Williams and "Clarinet Lament" for Barney Bigard, he created works meant to feature a particular instrumentalist, as with "Jeep's Blues" for him. Ellington returned to the Cotton Club in 1937, after it had been relocated to the Midtown Theater District. Ellington's finances were tight in the summer of that year, as a result of several investments. However, his situation improved in the ensuing years.

Irving Mills, the agent who had left office, has joined the William Morris Agency. Mills, on the other hand, continued to record Ellington. His Master and Variety labels (the small groups had only been known for the former) failed in late 1937 after just a year (the old labels had not been published for the latter). Ellington was sent back to Brunswick and those small group units on Vocalion from 1940. "Caravan" in 1937, and "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" the next year, both well-known sides.

Billy Strayhorn, who was originally hired as a lyricist, began his association with Ellington in 1939. Strayhorn, nicknamed "Swee" Pea" for his joking demeanor, became a vital member of Ellington's team shortly. Ellington demonstrated a great fondness for Strayhorn and never failed to brace for the man and his collaborative work relationship, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine." Strayhorn, who specialized in classical music, not only produced his original lyrics and music but also arranged and polished many of Ellington's works, becoming his second Ellington or "Duke" doppelganger. Strayhorn did not have to fill in for Duke, whether playing the piano or recording studio, it was not unprecedented for them to fill in for Duke. In 1939, just as World War II loomed in Europe, the decade came to an end.

Jimmy Blanton and Ben Webster, two musicians who joined Ellington at this time, became a sensation in their own right. When Blanton landed on a gig of Fate Marable in St Louis in late October 1939, he was practically hired on the spot long before Ellington was aware of his name. Blanton's short-lived bass made jazz's use of double bass more versatile as a solo/melodic instrument rather than a rhythm instrument alone. Ben Webster's most notable time with Ellington spanned 1939 to 1943. Ellington was Wilson's only competitor he'd leave Wilson for, according to his former employer, Teddy Wilson, now leading a big band. He was the orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist and enlarged the sax section's size to five for the first time. Hodges was often praised for showing him "how to play my horn," according to Johnny Hodges. In the orchestra, the two guys sat next to each other.

Trumpeter Ray Nance arrived, replacing Cootie Williams, who had defected to Benny Goodman. In addition, Nance added violin to Ellington's instrumental colors. Nance's first concert date, which was November 7, 1940, is recorded at Fargo, North Dakota. These recordings, which were privately produced by Jack Towers and Dick Burris in 1978, were first legally released as Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live; they are one of the oldest of innumerable live performances to survive. Although Herb Jeffries was the leading male vocalist in this period (until 1943), he did not appear in this period, while Al Hibbler (who replaced Jeffries in 1943) continued until 1951. Ivie Anderson left in 1942 for health reasons, the longest term for any of Ellington's vocalists.

Victor (from 1940) has been a popular show, with the small groups being released on their own Bluebird brand, three-minute masterpieces on 78 rpm record sides continuing to flow from Ellington's son Mercer Ellington and members of the orchestra. Thousands of others include "Cotton Tail," "Main Stem," "Harlem Air Shaft," "Jack the Bear," and scores of others from this time. "Take the "A" Train," a hit in 1941, became the band's theme, replacing "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo." Ellington and his associates created an orchestra of distinctive voices with a strong sense of imagination. In 2003, the commercial recordings from this period were re-released in Never No Lament's 3-CD set.

Ellington's long-term goal, on the other hand, was to extend the jazz style from the three-minute mark, of which he was a recognized master. Although he had designed and performed some extended pieces before, Ellington's output now includes extended pieces. Strayhorn, who had received more intensive instruction in classical music than Ellington, assisted him in this. Black, Brown, and Beige (1943), the first of these series, was dedicated to telling the tale of African Americans and the history of slavery and the church in their history. On January 23, 1943, Black, Brown, and Beige debuted at Carnegie Hall, the first of an annual series of Ellington concerts at the venue over the next four years. Although some jazz players had appeared at Carnegie Hall before, no one had ever performed anything as elaborate as Ellington's. Ellington's longer-running projects were unfortunately not well received, despite following a consistent pattern.

Jump for Joy, a full-length musical based on African American identity, premiered at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles on July 10, 1941. John Garfield and Mickey Rooney contributed to the film, and Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles were hired to direct. Garfield maintained that Herb Jeffries, who was light-skinned, should wear makeup at one performance. Ellington reacted angrily during the period, comparing Jeffries to Al Jolson. The change was reversed. In the second half of the performance, the singer later stated that the audience must have mistook him for a completely different person.

Despite selling out shows and receiving rave reviews, it didn't run for 122 performances before September 29, 1941, the year's brief revival in November. The subject matter made it not appealing to Broadway; Ellington had no plans to bring it there. Despite this disappointment, Ellington's Holiday, Ellington's sole book musical, premiered on December 23, 1946, under the direction of Nicholas Ray.

The deal of the first recording ban in 1942–44, which resulted in a rise in royalties paid to musicians, had a major effect on major bands, including Ellington's Orchestra. His income as a writer eventually subpoenaed it. Although he often invested lavishly and earned a respectable sum from the orchestra's operations, the band's earnings mainly paid for expenses. However, Ellington begged Webster to leave; the saxophonist's demeanor made his coworkers tense, and the saxophonist was always in conflict with the leader.

Touring for the major bands was impossible for musicians due to a new levy, which continued for many years, and dancing became increasingly popular among club owners. By the time World War II came, popular music was shifting toward singing crooners like Frank Sinatra and Jo Stafford. Club owners now discovered smaller jazz bands more cost-effective than larger bands as the cost of recruiting big bands increased. Any of Ellington's latest creations, such as the wordless vocal feature "Transblucence" (1946) with Kay Davis, were not going to have the same fame as the new entrant stars.

Ellington stayed on his own path through these tectonic shifts. Although Count Basie was forced to abandon his whole ensemble and work as an octet for a time, Ellington was able to tour most of Western Europe between April 6 and June 30, 1950, with the orchestra playing 74 dates over 77 days. Ellington did not perform the newer works during the tour, according to Sonny Greer. However, Ellington's extended composition, Harlem (1950), was still in the process of being finished at this moment. Ellington later performed its score to music-loving President Harry Truman. Ellington would also compose the music for a stage performance by Orson Welles during his stay in Europe. Time Runs in Paris and An Evening With Orson Welles In Frankfurt, the variety show included a recently discovered Eartha Kitt, who performed Ellington's original song "Hungry Little Trouble" as Helen of Troy.

Ellington suffered a significant man shortage in 1951: Sonny Greer, Lawrence Brown, and, most importantly, Johnny Hodges left to pursue other ventures. However, Greer was the only permanent departee. Louie Bellson's "Skin Deep" was a hit for Ellington, and drummer Louie Bellson's "Skin Deep" was a hit. Paul Gonsalves, a Tenor, joined in December 1950 after a few years with Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie and stayed for the remainder of his life, while Clark Terry joined in November 1951.

In 1952, André Previn said, "You know, Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make a dramatic gesture, and every studio arranger will nod his head and say, 'Yes, we did it like this.' But Duke Hepworth's merely lifts his finger, three horns make a sound, and I don't know what it is." Ellington, on the other hand, had no such association in 1955 after three years of recording for Capitol.

Ellington's appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 7, 1956, brought him to greater fame. Two tunes that had not been in the band's book since 1937 were included in "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue." Ellington, who had abruptly ended the band's set due to the late arrival of four main players, called the two songs as the time approached midnight. Despite urgent calls from festival promoter George Wein to bring the two pieces apart by an interlude starring tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, Ellington went on to lead the band through the two segments, leading to a ruckus among the audience after the maestro's 27-chorus marathon solos to come to an end.

The concert attracted international attention, culminated in one of only five Time magazine cover stories dedicated to a jazz musician, and culminated in an album by George Avakian that would be Ellington's best-selling LP. Much of the music on the album was simulated, with only around 40% of the actual performance taking place. Ellington, according to Avakian, was dissatisfied with certain aspects of the performance and believed that the musicians had been under-rehearsed. The band assembles the following day to re-record several numbers with the addition of the faked sound of a crowd, none of which was revealed to the album's buyers. For the first time since 1999, the concert recording was not released properly. The renewed interest brought by the Newport appearance should not have surprised anyone, Johnny Hodges had returned the previous year, and Ellington's relationship with Strayhorn was revived around the same time, under terms that are more amenable to the younger man.

The original Ellington at Newport was the first release in a new recording deal with Columbia Records, which culminated in many years of recording longevity, mainly under producer Irving Townsend, who coaxed both commercial and artistic productions from Ellington.

CBS (Columbia Records' parent company) broadcast A Drum Is a Woman, an allegorical suite that attracted mixed reactions in 1957. Festival appearances at the new Montefe Jazz Festival and elsewhere provided opportunities for live coverage, and a European tour in 1958 was well received. These Sweet Thunder (1957), based on Shakespeare's works and characters, as well as The Queen's Suite (1958), dedicated to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, were among the Queen's Suite (1958), which was dedicated to the Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. However, the latest work at the time was not commercially available. Ella Fitzgerald recorded her Duke Ellington Songbook (Verve) with Ellington and his orchestra in the late 1950s, indicating that Ellington's songs had now become part of the 'Great American Songbook'.

Ellington and Strayhorn began to film film scoring around this time. The first of these was Anatomy of a Murder (1959), a courtroom drama starring James Stewart starring James Stewart in which Ellington appeared fronting a roadhouse combo. "The score is a masterpiece," film historians have said, "the first major Hollywood film music by African Americans comprising non-diegetic songs, i.e., music whose source is not obvious or implied by movement in the film, as an on-screen band." In ways that predated the New Wave cinema of the 1960s, the score debunks historical myths that previously characterized jazz scores and sluggishly adhered to images. Ellington and Strayhorn produced suites for John Steinbeck's book Sweet Thursday, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, and Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt.

Anatomy of a Murder was followed by Paris Blues (1961), which featured Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier as jazz musicians. Ellington was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Score for this series.

Ellington began recording with artists who had been friendly rivals in the past or younger musicians who concentrated on later styles in the 1960s. With the album First Time, the Ellington and Count Basie orchestras performed together. The Duke Meets the Count (1961). Ellington was between recording sessions, produced Louis Armstrong (Roulette), Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane (both for Impulse) and attended a session with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, which resulted in the Money Jungle (United Artists) album. He signed to Frank Sinatra's latest Reprise brand, but the association with the brand was brief.

Lawrence Brown and Cootie Williams, two musicians who had previously worked with Ellington, were among the orchestra's players: Lawrence Brown in 1960 and Cootie Williams in 1962.

He was now touring around the world and spent a large part of each year on overseas tours. As a result, he developed new professional relationships with musicians from around the world, including Swedish singer Alice Babs and South African musician Sathima Bea Benjamin (A Morning in Paris, 1963-1997).

At the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, Ellington produced an original score for director Michael Langham's production of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, which opened on July 29, 1963. Langham has used it for several productions, including a much later version by Stanley Silverman that extends the score with some of Ellington's most popular works.

In 1965, Ellington was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Music. However, no prize was ultimately awarded that year. As then approached his 66th birthday, he joked: "Fate is being generous to me." Fate doesn't want me to be well-known too young." He received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1999 "commemorating the centennial year of his birth" in honor of his musical genius, which evoked the fundamentals of democracy via jazz as a form of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture."

He premiered the first of his Sacred Concerts in September 1965. He conceived a jazz Christian liturgy. Ellington was proud of the design and performed it hundreds of times, despite mixed critiques. Two other Sacred Concerts of the same kind were held in 1968 and 1973, including the Second and Third Sacred Concerts. Many saw the Sacred Music suites as an effort to increase market support for organized religion. Ellington, on the other hand, said it was "the most important thing I've done." The Steinway piano on which the Sacred Concerts were based is part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History collection. Ellington conducted his orchestra from the piano, as Haydn and Mozart did, and he also played the keyboard parts of the Sacred Concerts.

Duke retired in the spring of 1964, but he showed no signs of slowing down, making recordings of iconic works such as The Far East Suite (1966), New Orleans Suite (1972), and the Latin American Suite (1972), much of which was inspired by his world tours. It was during this time that he released Francis A.'s Only Album with Frank Sinatra. Edward K. (1967).

Ellington and his orchestra appeared on March 21, 1973, two at the Sturgis-Young Auditorium in Sturgis, Michigan, and the Eastbourne Performance on December 1, 1973, later released on LP. On March 20, 1974, Ellington appeared in what is considered his last full concert in a ballroom at Northern Illinois University. The "Duke Ellington Ballroom" has been designated in 1980.

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Awards and honors

• 1960, Hollywood Walk of Fame, contribution to recording industry
• 1966, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
• 1969, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the US
• 1971, an Honorary PhD from the Berklee College of Music
• 1973, the Legion of Honour by France, its highest civilian honor.
• 1999, posthumous Special Pulitzer Prize for his lifetime contributions to music and culture