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| 'Traveling with The Duke: Scenes from a Legendary Life' on Riverwalk This Week A childhood friend nicknamed him “Duke,” and Edward Kennedy Ellington lived up to that royal title. His personal air of grace and refinement comes across in his music. The sheer volume of Duke Ellington's lifetime musical output is remarkable. Of his 2,000 compositions, he wrote hundreds of pop songs, jazz tunes, musical comedy scores for theater, and film scores for hit movies like Anatomy of a Murder. He composed three concerts of sacred music and several large-scale orchestral suites like his “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue.” But many people believe that he was at his best composing short, three-minute pieces tailor-made to fit the 10-inch record disc which was the commercial standard of the era. From his early work, like this 1927 recording of “East St. Louis Toodle-Oo” to his 1930 hit “Mood Indigo” and later pieces like the 1940 classic “Cotton Tail,” Duke Ellington used the three-minute form mandated by the recording studio to create hundreds of miniature works of art. Late in life, Duke Ellington collected his memories in a book called “Music is My Mistress.” And, in the 1970s, jazz writer Stanley Dance collected more of Ellington?s recollections in his book “The World of Duke Ellington.” For our show this week, we?ve used information from both sources. Broadway actor and playwright Vernel Bagneris is a frequent “Riverwalk Jazz” guest artist. Lately, Vernel has been in the Hollywood spotlight for his small on-screen acting role and behind-the-camera role of choreographer in the Golden Globe-winning hit movie, “Ray.” On our show this week, Vernel brings to life scenes from Duke Ellington's legendary life. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |