Duke Ellington - Hardcover

Collier, James Lincoln

3.54

70 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195037707 ISBN 13: 9780195037708

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1987

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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.

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About the Author:

About the Author:
James Lincoln Collier is the author of many books and articles on jazz, notably The Making of Jazz and Louis Armstrong: An American Genius. Collier has achieved a major international reputation as a jazz critic; his books have been published in at least seven different languages around the world.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Characterizing Ellington as ``perhaps the most important figure in American music of the 20th century,'' the author looks at the composer's personality and career, focusing especially on his musical strengths and weaknesses. Collier, who has written several books on the history of jazzincluding a longer one on the Dukeclaims that Ellington didn't have the discipline to study either his instrument or music theory and that consequently he never became a brilliant pianist, while his longer compositions lacked cohesive structure. He did have a gifted ear, however, and, in working out musical ideas with his band (his preferred method of composition), he developed a fresh, unique, instantly recognizable sound that led to a long string of hits and standards. Collier succumbs occasionally to Jazz Historians' Diseasetedious recitation of names and personnel changesbut he makes clear what most of the musicians who played with Ellington contributed in the way of special techniques or abilities, while his musical analyses are easy to follow. Brief bibliography and discography. Index not seen. (Biography. 12-15) -- Copyright �1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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