Composer

You will learn how Duke Ellington worked as a painter with music, painting colors and patterns with musicians.

Duke Ellington was among the most prolific musical composers in American music, regardless of genre. He was a master in jazz, played blues in an orchestra and evolved into swing.

In this video of Take the A Train, watch how the band interacts with, and follows the direction of, Duke Ellington.

"Jazz is music; swing is business," said Ellington. His strength was mood, nuance, and richness of composition. He wrote music constantly, creating 1,500 compositions over 50 years.

Drawing from the life around, the compositions reflected sounds of the cars, trains, streets, and bustling city life. Harlem Airshaft conveys the life clustered around the backs of Harlem tenement buildings, an area that Ellington referred to as "one big loudspeaker."

Listen (3:17) >

"To listen to jazz without any knowledge of its history is to miss much of its charm," wrote Ellington.

Through endless touring, Ellington’s was able to compose music, play it before an audience and adjust what he had written. Although he used all instrumental groupings from his solo piano and trios to full symphonic orchestras, he wrote nearly all of his music for the conventional 16-piece dance band format.

He called his work, “American Music.”

Use the comment section below to respond: Can you provides some examples of "American Music" in the today's music?

Go to "Playing" with the band >