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PEOPLE IN AMERICA - September 15, 2002: Duke Ellington, Part 1
By Paul Thompson
VOICE 1:
I'm Shirley Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I'm Ray Freeman with the VOA Special English program, People in America.
Every week we tell about a person who was important in the history of the United
States. Today, we tell about the great jazz musician, Edward Kennedy Ellington. He
was better known to the world as "Duke" Ellington.
((MUSIC))
VOICE 1:
That was Duke Ellington's orchestra playing "Take the 'A' Train." Just the first few
notes of that song are enough to tell any music expert who is playing. It is like a musical sign. The sign says,
"Listen! You are about to hear something by Duke Ellington's Orchestra." It was always the first song his
orchestra played.
"Take the 'A' Train" was only one of hundreds of songs he played all over the world.
((MUSIC))
VOICE 2:
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April twenty-ninth, eighteen ninety-nine, in Washington, D-C. His
family lived in the African-American area of Washington. It was a time when racial separation was the law in
much of the United States. Racial laws and racial hatred were to follow Edward Kennedy Ellington all through
his life.
Young Edward liked clothes. A friend once looked at him and said, "you look like a duke." He meant that
Edward's clothes were so good that he looked like a member of a royal family.
Other friends laughed. Yet they all began calling him "Duke." The name stayed with him the rest of his life.
VOICE 1:
When he was about seven years old, Duke Ellington began to play the piano. When he was in high school, he
began to paint. He became very good at both.
A famous art school in New York City invited him to take classes there. But he had already decided to become a
musician. He got his first professional job in nineteen-sixteen. He played music at night and painted business
signs during the day.
The most popular music back then was called ragtime. Duke listened to ragtime piano players who visited
Washington. Then he tried to play as well, or better than, they did. Years later, he recorded a song that showed
how well he could play the piano. It is a ragtime song called "Lots O' Fingers."
((MUSIC))
VOICE 2:
Duke Ellington moved to New York City in nineteen-twenty-three. He had a small band. Soon it was playing at
the famous cotton club, where it would play for many years. Duke and his band could play at the cotton club. But
they could not come to hear anyone else, because they were black.
Duke did not become angry. He did not become filled with hatred toward white people. He let his music speak
for him.
VOICE 1:
In time, Duke Ellington's band got bigger. It was a jazz orchestra. More people began hearing the orchestra's
music. They could hear it on a radio program from the cotton club. The program often could be heard all over the
United States.
At the same time, Duke Ellington and the members of his orchestra began recording their songs. Their first hit
record was one of their most famous. It was recorded in October of nineteen-thirty. It was called "Dreamy Blues.
" Later, Duke changed the name. It is still considered a great blues song and is often played today. It is called
"Mood Indigo."
((MUSIC))
VOICE 2:
An orchestra is a team made up of individual players. Like any team, the individuals in an orchestra must
cooperate to produce good music. The leader of a team, or an orchestra, must learn the strength and the weakness
of each member. And a good leader will use this knowledge to make the team or orchestra produce the best
result.
In the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties, members of a dance orchestra never stayed with one group for
long. Musicians moved from group to group. Yet, when a musician played with Duke Ellington, he usually
stayed, sometimes for many years.
VOICE 1:
This had an effect on the group's music. Duke would write music especially for musicians in the orchestra. His
songs used the strengths of one or two individuals. The rest of the orchestra cooperated with them.
This cooperation became the method Ellington used again and again to produce beautiful sound colors. His music
could make people feel deep emotions -- feelings of happiness, or sadness, or loneliness, or Joy.
VOICE 2:
Some members of the Duke Ellington orchestra were the best jazz musicians of their day. Their cooperation
produced a sound that is almost impossible for others to re-create. To create that same sound, you would need the
musicians who first played the music.
One of those musicians was "Cootie" Williams. He played the trumpet in the Duke Ellington orchestra for many
years. Duke Ellington used the strength of Cootie Williams when he wrote a song called, "A Concerto for
Cootie." Critics said this work showed the unity between the music writer, the leader of the orchestra, and its
members.
Listen as Cootie Williams seems to lead the orchestra. Hear how the other members cooperate with him to
produce a very beautiful and special sound.
((MUSIC))
VOICE 1:
This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Lawan Davis. I'm Shirley
Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I'm Ray Freeman. Join us again next week at this time for the second part of our People in America program
about Duke Ellington on the Voice of America.
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