Born April 29, 1899

Washington, D.C.

Died May 24, 1974

New York, New York

American bandleader, composer, and pianist

Duke Ellington. (AP/Wide World Photos, Inc. Reproduced by permission.)

"After hearing [piano player Harvey Brooks] I said to myself, 'Man, you're just going to have to do it.'"

Celebrated as one of the most important musicians and composers in the United States, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an innovator in the field of jazz, a musical form that emerged during the first two decades of the twentieth century. His popularity spanned from the 1920s to the middle of the 1970s, and many of his most famous compositions were written after the Harlem Renaissance had ended. Nevertheless, it was during this exciting period in African American cultural history that Ellington's career had its roots. In his dignified and polished manners, his...