Product Description
This beautiful collection features 36 songs by this American master. An extensive section of text includes facts about Duke Ellington's life, and articles on Ellington the composer, the pianist, the bandleader, and the recording studio aficionado. Each section of text is illustrated by photos. All the major songs by Duke Ellington are presented: Caravan Day Dream Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me Don't Get Around Much Anymore Drop Me Off in Harlem I Didn't Know About You In a Sentimental Mood It Don't Mean a Thing Satin Doll Solitude Sophisticated Lady and many others. Also includes long-out-of-print songs from Ellington's only Broadway show, Beggar's Holiday. ... Read more

Book Description
Duke Ellington is considered to be one of the great genius' of jazz--its major composer and leader of probably the most significant of all jazz bands. Yet, other than his own not-very-revealing autobiography and a collection of reminiscences of his band members, there has never been an indepth biography of this preeminent figure in twentieth century music and entertainment.Here at last is the definitive critical biography of both the man and his music.James Lincoln Collier, author of the highly acclaimed Louis Armstrong: An American Genius, has produced a fascinating work which tells the full story of Edward Kennedy Ellington, from his childhood as the pampered and adored only son of a middle-class Washington black family to his death in 1974, hailed as "America's greatest composer" (according to the New York Times obituary) and mourned at his funeral by more than 10,000 people. Collier describes Ellington's charisma--his sense of being special even from childhood, when he would announce to his cousins "I am the grand, noble, Duke; crowds will be running to me,"...the formation of his band, including some of the greatest names in jazz history, among them, Barney Bigard, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Lawrence Brown, and Paul Gonzavles...his arrival at the legendary Cotton Club in Harlem in the 1920s...his involvement with his manager Irving Mills, who manipulated and cheated him and even put his name on some of Ellington's songs, but who made him famous...his relationship with his family, including his troubled relationship with his son, his marriage and many affairs (including involvements with some of his own musician's women).But most of all, the book is about the creation of the music, from classic songs like "Sophisticated Lady" to the "sacred concerts" of Ellington's last years. Collier maintains that it is not necessary to see Ellington as a "composer" in the narrow sense of the word but as something just as important: an improvising jazz musician.His instrument was a whole band.This is a controversial book--not all will agree with Collier's assessments--but it will enthrall jazz buffs as well as anyone interested in a fascinating life and times. ... Read more

Amazon.com
It's hard not to feel a little sorry for Mercer Ellington, who by his own admission spent the better part of his life locked in an Oedipal struggle with his brilliant dad. But let's not forget that Mercer wrote a handful of classics, ranging from melancholic mood pieces ("Blue Serge") to jam-session perennials ("Things Ain't What They Used to Be"). Nor should we overlook this fine memoir, which offers a window into Ellington's fantastically elusive private life. This is neither a dutiful hagiography nor an act of literary patricide: instead, Mercer has effectively mingled his father's story with his own. And in the end, he's too respectful of Duke's genius not to forgive his moments of paternal pettiness and axe-grinding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Ellington is fabulous!
One of America's greatest jazz composers, Duke Ellington was thedefinitive jazzman of his time.While many of us have heard his songs, fewof us know the history behind it.This book is a great enlightener forthose of us who can stand some light reading.I strongly recommend it toanyone who has heard his music. ... Read more

Book Description
This pack lets instrumentalists play along with a big band to 10 swinging classics, including: Caravan * Chelsea Bridge * Cotton Tail * I'm Beginning to See the Light * I'm Just a Lucky So and So * In a Mellow Tone * In a Sentimental Mood * Mood Indigo * Satin Doll * Take the "A" Train. ... Read more

Book Description
Based on lengthy interviews with Ellington's bandmates, family, and friends, Duke Ellington and His World offers a fresh look at this legendary composer.The first biography of the composer written by a fellow musician and African-American, the book traces Ellington's life and career in terms of the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of his times.Beginning with his birth in Washington, DC, through his first bands and work at the legendary Cotton Club, to his final great extended compositions, this book gives a thorough introduction to Ellington's music and how it was made.It also illuminates his personal life because, for Ellington, music was his life and his life was a constant inspiration for music.
When A. H. Lawrence was a young trombone player in the '40s, he met Ellington and befriended the elder musician. From that point forward, he closely followed Ellington's career.Because of his deep love for Ellington's music, he began interviewing many of the stars of Ellington's early bands, hoping to capture from them, before they passed away, their memories and insights. Drawing on these interviews with legendary musicians-including many who worked with Ellington from his earliest days, such as drummer Sonny Greer, who played with Ellington's first bands in the '20s and who continued in his bands through the early '50s-the book offers a rounded and human portrait of the great composer and musician.Ellington's son Mercer was particularly forthcoming, offering new information about his childhood and experiences working with his father.The insights into the family that he shared have not previously been published.
The result is a thorough biography that offers unique insights into Ellington: the man and his music.This fresh and balanced portrayal will undoubtedly add to our understanding of one of America's greatest artists and bring renewed attention to his distinguished body of work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Odd
I found this book reasonably entertaining, approaching, you might say "attacking", Duke Ellington from a psychologizing angle. Interesting. Few people ever really knew Ellington, and the ones who did didn't talk much about him, at least not in any revealing way. And the man was clearly an affable narcissist, with a tendency to be passively cruel to band members and some family members. If this personality hadn't existed, Thomas Mann would have invented him, with a little help from Freud. And of course there's nothing wrong with taking a figure so frequently deified down a couple of pegs. So the author's tack seemed, for the nonce, acceptable.
Unfortunately, I noticed quite a few oddities, in dates, attribution of composer credit, and elsewhere. I also wondered how this guy could have interviewed all these old timers, this late in the era. And I'd never heard of a trombonist of this name who played with Benny Carter, Luis Russell etc. in the Forties. And though I'm a thorough Ellington fan and personal admirer, I'm no scholar. So I had to wait till I stumbled on the "brief" by Steven Lasker, who is a scholar, to realize what a hoax this book is. Stick "depanorama stratemann lasker lawrence routledge" into the google search engine. You'll get a issue of the Duke Ellington Music Society bulletin from late 2001. Read it before you buy this book.
Routledge didn't originate the contract on this book. They bought it from some other outfit. Routledge used to be a standard issue publisher of unreadable academic jabber of the paramarxist school, parasitizing on English universities. In the last few years they've tried to break into the American popular market. Hence opportunistic stuff like this.
There's a Duke Ellington industry out there, appealing to scholars, musicologists and plain enthusiasts of good music. So there are bogus reissues on CD and preposterous books like this. The same thing happens with Mark Twain; you come to expect it. But damn Routledge for getting involved in the seamy side of it as they scramble to find a place in the dwindling high end market.

Mighty subject through a very narrow lens
Duke Ellington is such a towering subject that any book about him contains some items of interest. This is the first full length biography I've read on Ellington, although I did take a course with Mark Tucker, author of "The Ellington Reader" in college. This book is written by a psychologist and a musician of the 1940s, not a researcher, and the previous reviewers have criticized him for a lack of research. Lawrence relies heavily on Sonny Greer and Mercer Ellington as interview subjects and there may be the value in skimming through this biography. As a drummer, the story of how Greer got his magnificent drum kit that you see in all of the 30s and 40s footage of the Ellington brought me a smile. Stories like this lead me to believe that Lawrence would have been better served facilitating a memoir of Sonny Greer and some of his musical contacts [he admits that he was trying to do this until Hentoff's "Hear me Talkin' to Ya came out in his introduction] than writing a flawed biography of Ellington, a towering figure who deserves a thorough scholarly biography like the one that Lewis Porter did for John Coltrane.

The book has two other big flaws. First, the 50s and 60s are really quickly treated and he will go through a year of the band's life in a couple of pages. I personally was first drawn to Ellington's music through this musically rich period and while the creation of some of Ellington's key suites like the Far East Suite is mentioned, I would have liked a better sense of what life in the band was like at this time.

The biggest problem, here, however, is that Lawrence the psychologist intervenes at times and leaves the reader with a sour taste in his mouth. I do not need speculation on the psychological nature and "narcissistic" elements of Ellington's personality. I'd rather get detailed research as to what happened in his personal life from varied sources and allow me, the intelligent reader, to draw my own conclusions. The fact that the last paragraph of the book concludes with a statement of his "profound narcissism" and how Ellington just wanted "everybody in the palm of my hand", diminishes the ultimate musical and spiritual legacy that Ellington left behind.

Right now, I don't see a major full length biography of Ellington on the market that I can completely endorse. This book has some value as a quick, though flawed, overview of the band while introducing members like the great Sonny Greer.

2 stars.

--SD

Shame on Routledge
This abysmally inaccurate "biography" should never have been published.It is obvious that neither Routledge nor A.H. Lawrence had any reverence for the facts, despite the liberal use of plagarized passages from authoritative works. There are many books on Ellington that are well worth having. Not this one.

Travesty In Blue
A. H. Lawrence has written a book filled with errors on almost every page.Lawrence's lack of scholarship will seriously call into question the lack of Routledge's editorial integrity if not its motives - unless the publisher decides to recall the product.

If you really want to see this book, wait until it is remaindered or piled on the "free" table - that should be soon.

Hopelessly bad
This book is so filled with factual errors (wrong dates, misspellings of names, etc.) that it is impossible to take seriously. Please don't waste your money. ... Read more

Book Description
Duke Ellington was a famous performer and bandleader.He is also one of America's greatest composers.This biography tell his story and how his perseverance and unique qualities continue to set examples today.Readers will be inspired to learn how Duke overcame adversity and hardships, while making his mark in the world of jazz. ... Read more

Book Description
Duke Ellington brought jazz to America. The music he played sprang in part from the blues and gospel rhythms of the plantation slaves living in the mid-19th century, infused with the sounds of ragtime from the turn of the century. The music was a sharp improvisation for which band members played anything they wanted along a chosen key or set of chords, so the music was always different. ... Read more

Book Description
This collection provides you with solid, clear and accessible solo arrangements for 11 of the of the most memorable jazz standards written by one of the most influential composers in jazz history. Every song is presented with the guitar part, written in standard notation and tablature, combined with the lead sheet for analysis. All arrangements are demonstrated and included on the CD ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Duke Ellington by Wendie Old
Author does not appear to have a solid research background on Duke Ellington. Two photos were mis-titled. The majority of her bibliography refers to Kent Smith's book (1993) and a few 1993 periodicals. If the books or periodicals were published over 20 years after Duke Ellington's death (1974), you can be sure that the data reflects alterations and errors repeatedly made by other biographers. ... Read more

Book Description
Duke Ellington's son Mercer has said that his father was frustrated in only one area of musical ambition: his desire to do his own Broadway show. Though Ellington wrote many theatrical pieces, he was never able to achieve success as a composer for the stage, and today his stage shows receive little attention from music historians. Nevertheless, these works occupied a significant place in Ellington's creative imagination, and many of the ideas he employed in their composition found their way into his other work. Here is the first book to acknowledge Duke Ellington's contribution to the stage. It offers a survey of every theater piece Ellington is known to have worked on during his lifetime, beginning with the 1925 revue The Chocolate Kiddies and ending with the unfinished "street opera" Queenie Pie. This large body of work includes full-length musicals, African American revues, ballets, and incidental music. The plot of each work is described and the score analyzed according to its dramatic function in the piece. Musical phrases are reproduced in the text, and associations with other well-known Ellington compositions are noted. An appendix provides a chronological listing of Ellington's shows with song titles conveniently listed under each. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

ground breaking and highly detailed
This is the first book about Duke Ellington's vast theatre music, and it's inCredible detailed and knowledgable. It helps to have the book written by a composer of note. Even the Duke Ellington Society raves about this one, as well they should. Music examples, great pictures. But the beauty is in the writing; between academic and pop. Brilliant - literally. ... Read more

Product Description
Standard Piano, Guitar. Plus Bossa Nova. Classics from Antonio Carlos Jobim ... Read more