Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) started out as a ragtimer in his native Washington DC, where he later worked as a sign-painter and society bandleader. Ellington moved to New York in the 1920s and, after some competent but undistinguished recordings, he and some remarkable colleagues quickly forged, by the end of the decade, a unique and forward-looking style, bold in both its orchestration and harmonic language.

Birmingham Break Down (1926), an uptempo piece anticipating swing style, ends in jazz fashion with a pair of blues choruses. At the same time, it harks back to ragtime style with its contrasting sets of repeated strains.

Black and Tan Fantasy (1927), a remarkable excursion on a Blues, was one outstanding fruit of his collaboration with trumpeter "Bubber" Miley, who played with Ellington's band in the late 20s. The opening theme is a bluesy paraphrase of Stephen Adams’ hymn The Holy City.

Soda Fountain Rag (1914), also sometimes called Poodle Dog Rag, is Ellington's earliest surviving composition.

The Mooche (1928), a remarkable and celebrated blues-based early Ellington masterpiece, dates from 1928, after Ellington had begun his celebrated engagement at Harlem’s Cotton Club.

Notes by Roy Wiseman