Happy Birthday, Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C.  Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe put it best when he said that "In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington."

Ellington, who won 12 Grammy Awards, was not only a great composer and a great bandleader; he merged the two talents. As jazz critic William Ruhlmann notes, "Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends five of Ellington's albums:

• Rockin' in Rhythm, Duke Ellington and the Jungle Band, Vol. 3, 1929-1931 (MCA), available on vinyl only.
• Duke Ellington - 1940 (Smithsonian), available on vinyl only.
• The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 (Prestige), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Golden Duke (Prestige), available on vinyl only.
• Pure Gold (RCA), available on vinyl only.

Because so many of these recommended albums are available on vinyl only, Jim Determan has recommended the following alternatives on CD:

• The Original Decca Recordings (The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931) (Decca/GRP), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Okey Ellington (Columbia Jazz Masterpieces), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Blanton-Webster Band (RCA Bluebird), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• Great Times! (Original Jazz Classics), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• Happy Go Lucky Local (Discovery), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Popular Duke Ellington (RCA Victor Europe), available on CD from Amazon.com.

Ellington's "Jungle Band" plays "Rockin'in Rhythm," recorded in 1931, here:

Robert
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