2. While listening to his music and songs I was impressed, and couldn’t but admire this African American talent, who was known in his lifetime as one of the greatest jazz composers and performers.

6. “In 1924, Ellington became the leader of a six-member jazz band previously known as the Elmer Snowden Band. Within two years the Ellington Orchestra had eleven musicians in its ranks”(Zick).

7. “Ellington established the distinctive style of his orchestra with a series of recordings in 1927-28. The songs were timed to fit 78 r.p.m. records, which could only record about three minutes per side”(Zick).

8. The Duke Cotton Club Orchestra, 1931 “Their growing reputation eventually earned the band a job at Harlem’s prestigious Cotton Club, where they would stay from 1927 to 1931” (Ellington 101).

11. “In November 1943 Ellington debuted Black, Brown and Beige in Carnegie Hall which told the struggle of African- Americans… the place of slavery, and the church in their history” (Wikipedia).

12. Ellington became one of the most influential figures in Jazz.

13. The Ellington Orchestra in Chicago, circa 1932

14. The Orchestra in Los Angeles, 1934

15. Left to Right: Johnny Hodges, Ellington, and Jimmy Hamilton

19. Ellington “died of Lung Cancer and Pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery, The Bronx, New York City” (Wikipedia).

20. Works Cited Wikipedia. Duke Ellington. Retrieved on January 14, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington Ellington 101: A Beginner's Guide. Retrieved on January 13, 2009 from: http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/jazzED/ee/pdf/Ellington101.pdf Ellington 101: A Beginner's Guide http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/jazzED/ee/pdf/Ellington101.pdf Zick, William. (2006). Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. Retrieved on January 12, 2009 from: http://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Ellington.html Zick, William. (2006). ://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Ellington.html