Duke Ellington
Jazz was one of the influential aspects that African-American relied on, to escape reality, express their feelings, or just have fun. Jazz began to flourish during the 1920's, which in turn came to be known as the Golden Age of Jazz. During this time of jazz one of the famous ones that became a great jazz musician was Edward Kennedy Ellington famously known as Duke Ellington. Duke Ellington of course had achievements and down falls like any other person. He was not afraid to follow his creative instincts wherever they took him, no matter what people said. He remarks one time in an interview, "Life itself is one big, long soap opera." There were even times when things looked bleak, but at the end he never quit. Duke Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington D.C. As soon as he started to grow up, his parents right away showed him their love for music. His parents had a teacher start giving him piano lessons. Duke Ellington, like all other children at his age, was interested in other things, like baseball, for example. But later as he moved on to his teen years he began once again to get interested and began to learn the piano. He would hang out at a pool hall where his friends were his best. The pool hall was
next to the Howard Theater, where most of the major black entertainers in America would hang out. The activities at the rent parties and the nightclub sessions were Duke's final schooling. The cruelty of prejudice and the hard times forced people to stick together. In 1919, Ellington met Sonny Greer, a drummer who was already starting to play with musicians. Ellington really liked their approach for different styles of playing. The combination of instruments it used and the connection between the group and the soloist placed jazz in a different musical category. The sound of blues and jazz floated through the streets as well as within the homes. When Duke and the Washingtonians came to New York they lived in Harlem. The rhythmic background came from a bass and a drum, although sometimes tubas, banjos, and guitars, were also used for this purpose. When they found apartments, most of the rentals had five to seven rooms. Some of them would drop by the pool hall to relax when they weren't on stage. The melody in these bands was played by a front line of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. The people of Harlem had to scramble to make a living, but life was still rich in this city within a city. They were given mostly kitchen work, and units were strictly segregated.
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