A Portrait of Duke Ellington

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An innovative biography of the master of jazzOne of the most romantic, flamboyant and charismatic figures in the colourful world of jazz, Duke Ellington rose in five years from signwriter, pianist and pool-room hustler to be the star of Harlem's Cottom Club, and soon a giant of twentieth-century music. Rare as a bandleader-pianist who composed all his own material, he was acclaimed by Stravinsky as 'one of the greatest lving composers', crossing almost every known musical divide. His work spanned from 'Mood Indigo' to major religious works, and faultless improvisation to arrangements using unusual combinations of instruments for a new range of tonal colours.Nicknamed 'Duke' for his snappy dressing and regal bearing, a sophisticate, bon viveur, humorist, gourmet and lover of beautiful women, Ellington was nontheless an intensely private man. This biography will draw on many previously unpublished sources, including the papers of his sister and son, approaching the man through the eyes of those who knew him, exploring such mysteries as his early marriage, and offering a first-hand acount of a major black artist's struggle in a world of white entertainment.