Duke Ellington In Person - Softcover

Ellington, Mercer; Dance, Stanley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306801043 ISBN 13: 9780306801044

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1979

Synopsis

Duke Ellington's only son recalls his own relationship with his father as well as recounting Duke's musical life and relationships with women and with other musicians

About this title

Review:

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1979
• ISBN 10: 0306801043
• ISBN 13: 9780306801044
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 236