It was an unchallenging job which brought a good income because the young man regularly got orders from the state administration. But Kennedy did not enjoy this work, and he liked playing the piano instead. As a result, Edward left the job, turning down an art scholarship to the Pratt Institute. Since , young Kennedy earned a living as a musician and at the same time took lessons from professional piano players.
Edward already formed his first musical group in A little later, trumpeter Arthur Whetsol joined them. One day their performance was seen by the bar owner in New York City, who came to the capital on business.
He offered the young men to sign a contract. They must perform at his place for several years, and the bar owner guaranteed viewers and a good income for the musicians. People started talking about the musicians.
They began to receive invitations to other places, for example, the Hollywood Club, located in Time Square. The income allowed Edward to continue learning from the acclaimed keyboardists. The success of The Washingtonians provided an opportunity for the quartet to get acquainted with creative and influential people.
In , Ellington and his group moved to the Cotton Club, in New York City, where he had performed before the first concert tour across the country. A year later, Duke and the orchestra performed at Columbia University. In , Duke and his musicians went on their first European tour, the main event of which was the performance at the London Palladium. The members of the royal family attended their concert and later Duke had a chance to talk with them.
Inspired by the success of the European tour, the musicians went to a new one. It does not store any personal data. Functional Functional. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Performance Performance. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
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They separated in but never divorced. Their only son, Mercer Ellington b. Stevie Wonder? Sir Duke? Copyright by Who2? All rights reserved. Ellington's fame rose to the rafters in the s when he composed several masterworks, including "Concerto for Cootie," "Cotton Tail" and "Ko-Ko.
Perhaps Ellington's most famous jazz tune was "Take the A Train," which was composed by Billy Strayhorn and recorded for commercial purposes on February 15, It was Ellington's sense of musical drama that made him stand out.
His blend of melodies, rhythms and subtle sonic movements gave audiences a new experience—complex yet accessible jazz that made the heart swing. Ellington's autobiography, Music Is My Mistress , was published in Ellington earned 12 Grammy awards from to , nine while he was alive. At the age of 19, Ellington married Edna Thompson, who had been his girlfriend since high school, and soon after their marriage, she gave birth to their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington.
On May 24, , at the age of 75, Ellington died of lung cancer and pneumonia. His last words were, "Music is how I live, why I live and how I will be remembered.
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