Heralded by many as the greatest composer in jazz history, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington composed and arranged most of the music played by his famous orchestra. His 1932 recording of "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" gave a name to the Swing Era, when jazz music and jitterbug dancing swept the nation in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Born Edward Kennedy Ellington into a modestly prosperous family in Washington, D.C., he began studying piano at age seven. His graceful demeanor earned him the aristocratic nickname, Duke. Continuing to study piano formally, as well as learning from the city's ragtime pianists, Ellington formed his own band at age 19, and soon was earning enough playing for parties and dances to marry Edna Thompson. The band's drummer was his friend, Sonny Greer, who would anchor the Duke's rhythm section for...