VOICE 1:
I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I’m Ray Freeman with the VOASpecial English program, People in America. Every week we tell abouta person who was important in the history of the United States.Today, we tell about the great jazz musician, Edward KennedyEllington. He was better known to the world as “Duke” Ellington.
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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 musicexpert who is playing. It is like a musical sign. The sign says,”Listen! You are about to hear something by Duke Ellington’sOrchestra.” It was always the first song his orchestra played.
“Take the ‘A’ Train” was only one of hundreds of songs he playedall over the world.
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VOICE 2:
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April twenty-ninth, eighteenninety-nine, in Washington, D-C. His family lived in theAfrican-American area of Washington. It was a time when racialseparation was the law in much of the United States. Racial laws andracial hatred were to follow Edward Kennedy Ellington all throughhis 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 goodthat he looked like a member of a royal family.
Other friends laughed. Yet they all began calling him “Duke.” Thename stayed with him the rest of his life.
VOICE 1:
When he was about seven years old, Duke Ellington began to playthe piano. When he was in high school, he began to paint. He becamevery good at both.
A famous art school in New York City invited him to take classesthere. But he had already decided to become a musician. He got hisfirst professional job in nineteen-sixteen. He played music at nightand painted business signs during the day.
The most popular music back then was called ragtime. Dukelistened to ragtime piano players who visited Washington. Then hetried to play as well, or better than, they did. Years later, herecorded a song that showed how well he could play the piano. It isa ragtime song called “Lots O’ Fingers.”
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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 atthe 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 hatredtoward white people. He let his music speak for him.
VOICE 1:
In time, Duke Ellington’s band got bigger. It was a jazzorchestra. More people began hearing the orchestra’s music. Theycould hear it on a radio program from the cotton club. The programoften could be heard all over the United States.
At the same time, Duke Ellington and the members of his orchestrabegan recording their songs. Their first hit record was one of theirmost famous. It was recorded in October of nineteen-thirty. It wascalled “Dreamy Blues. ” Later, Duke changed the name. It is stillconsidered a great blues song and is often played today. It iscalled “Mood Indigo.”
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VOICE 2:
An orchestra is a team made up of individual players. Like anyteam, the individuals in an orchestra must cooperate to produce goodmusic. The leader of a team, or an orchestra, must learn thestrength and the weakness of each member. And a good leader will usethis knowledge to make the team or orchestra produce the bestresult.
In the nineteen-twenties and nineteen-thirties, members of adance orchestra never stayed with one group for long. Musiciansmoved from group to group. Yet, when a musician played with DukeEllington, he usually stayed, sometimes for many years.
VOICE 1:
This had an effect on the group’s music. Duke would write musicespecially for musicians in the orchestra. His songs used thestrengths of one or two individuals. The rest of the orchestracooperated with them.
This cooperation became the method Ellington used again and againto produce beautiful sound colors. His music could make people feeldeep emotions — feelings of happiness, or sadness, or loneliness,or Joy.
VOICE 2:
Some members of the Duke Ellington orchestra were the best jazzmusicians of their day. Their cooperation produced a sound that isalmost impossible for others to re-create. To create that samesound, you would need the musicians who first played the music.
One of those musicians was “Cootie” Williams. He played thetrumpet in the Duke Ellington orchestra for many years. DukeEllington used the strength of Cootie Williams when he wrote a songcalled, “A Concerto for Cootie.” Critics said this work showed theunity between the music writer, the leader of the orchestra, and itsmembers.
Listen as Cootie Williams seems to lead the orchestra. Hear howthe other members cooperate with him to produce a very beautiful andspecial sound.
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VOICE 1:
This Special English program was written by Paul Thompson. It wasproduced by Lawan Davis. I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE 2:
And I’m Ray Freeman. Join us again next week at this time for thesecond part of our People in America program about Duke Ellington onthe Voice of America.