Cool Pic - Louie, Paul and the Duke

This picture of Louis Armstrong, Paul Newman and Duke Ellington made me smile.  I saw it @ AmericanBluesScene on Facebook

Duke Ellington Tee Shirt

Duke Ellington - T-shirts - Mens Vintage

Vintage Distressed Duke Ellington @ Monterey Jazz Festival 1966 Logo & Photo These Super Soft Distressed T-Shirts Are Custom Made To Be Much Thinner Than Regular Tees And Some Have An Outer Stitch. They Feel Like You Purchased It At A Concert In 1980, And Never Took It Off.

Old Glory Tee Shirts and Stuff @ Amazon.com

Jazz Book: Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington

Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington

Right now I am so behind in my reading, so many wonderful books on jazz and blues music and so little time.  But this is on my night stand as I type this, and if I can I will plow threw it in quick time.  I've always found the stories about Duke Ellington intriguing and hopefully you will too.

According to Amazon.com;

A major new biography of Duke Ellington from the acclaimed author of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was the greatest jazz composer of the twentieth century—and an impenetrably enigmatic personality whom no one, not even his closest friends, claimed to understand. The grandson of a slave, he dropped out of high school to become one of the world’s most famous musicians, a showman of incomparable suavity who was as comfortable in Carnegie Hall as in the nightclubs where he honed his style. He wrote some fifteen hundred compositions, many of which, like “Mood Indigo” and “Sophisticated Lady,” remain beloved standards, and he sought inspiration in an endless string of transient lovers, concealing his inner self behind a smiling mask of flowery language and ironic charm.

As the biographer of Louis Armstrong, Terry Teachout is uniquely qualified to tell the story of the public and private lives of Duke Ellington. Duke peels away countless layers of Ellington’s evasion and public deception to tell the unvarnished truth about the creative genius who inspired Miles Davis to say, “All the musicians should get together one certain day and get down on their knees and thank Duke.” 

Duke Ellington Solo Piano Concert

The worst thing about this video is still wonderful.  It should be required viewing, as far as I am concerned.

According to the notes at YouTube this was recorded by ABC in Australia, it is a concert where Duke Ellington gives an overview of Jazz.  It is just so cool, to listen to a master of the form who knows the history of the music and gives a great presentation.

Duke Ellington Tee Shirt

Duke Ellington - T-shirts - Mens Vintage

Vintage Distressed Duke Ellington @ Monterey Jazz Festival 1966 Logo & Photo These Super Soft Distressed T-Shirts Are Custom Made To Be Much Thinner Than Regular Tees And Some Have An Outer Stitch. They Feel Like You Purchased It At A Concert In 1980, And Never Took It Off.

Old Glory Tee Shirts and Stuff @ Amazon.com

Duke: Duke Ellington

One of the jazz greats - lots of written critiques and glorious music on the internet - a particularly hard choice to take a small sample

Wikipedia

A major figure in the history of jazz, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical .... Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and extraordinary charisma, he is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional genres of music ...
At the age of seven, Ellington began taking piano lessons from Marietta Clinkscales. Daisy surrounded her son with dignified women to reinforce his manners and teach him to live elegantly. Ellington’s childhood friends noticed that "his casual, offhand manner, his easy grace, and his dapper dress gave him the bearing of a young nobleman", and began calling him Duke. Ellington credited his "chum" Edgar McEntree for the nickname. "I think he felt that in order for me to be eligible for his constant companionship, I should have a title. So he called me Duke."

The Official website is comprehensive with all you would expect including details about the orchestra

Duke Ellington: Take the "A" Train

Blues Quotes - B.B. King & Duke Ellington

“I've said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie [Ray Vaughan] missed on both counts, but I never noticed.”

B.B. King

“I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.”

Duke Ellington