Table of Contents

Chronology Evan Spring; Editor's introduction: Ellington and Aesthetic Realism Edward Green; Part I. Ellington in Context: 1. Artful entertainment: Ellington's formative years in context John Howland; 2. The process of becoming: composition and recomposition David Berger; 3. Conductor of music and men: Duke Ellington through the eyes of his nephew Stephen D. James and J. Walker James; 4. Ellington abroad Brian Priestley; 5. Edward Kennedy Ellington as a cultural icon Olly W. Wilson and Trevor Weston; Part II. Duke Through the Decades: The Music and Its Reception: 6. Ellington's afro-modernist vision in the 1920s Jeffrey Magee; 7. Survival, adaptation and experimentation: Duke Ellington and his orchestra in the 1930s Andrew Berish; 8. The 1940s: The Blanton–Webster Band, Carnegie Hall, and the challenge of the postwar era Anna Harwell Celenza; 9. Duke in the 1950s: renaissance man Anthony Brown; 10. Ellington in the 1960s and 1970s: triumph and tragedy Dan Morgenstern; Part III. Ellington and the Jazz Tradition: 11. Ellington and the blues Benjamin Givan; 12. 'Seldom seen, but always heard': Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington Walter van de Leur; 13. Duke Ellington and the world of jazz piano Bill Dobbins; 14. Duke and descriptive music Marcello Piras; 15. Sing a song of Ellington, or, the accidental songwriter Will Friedwald; 16. The land of suites: Ellington and extended form David Berger; 17. Duke Ellington's legacy and influence Benjamin Bierman.

Promotional Information

This comprehensive and accessible Companion is the first collection of essays to provide an in-depth overview of Ellington's career.

About the Author

Edward Green is a professor at Manhattan School of Music, where since 1984 he has taught jazz, music history, composition, and ethnomusicology. He is also on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and studied with the renowned philosopher Eli Siegel, the founder of Aesthetic Realism. Dr Green serves on the editorial boards of The International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Haydn (the journal of the Haydn Society of North America), Проблемы Музыкальной Науки (Music Scholarship), which is published by a consortium of major Russian conservatories, and is editor of China and the West: The Birth of a New Music (2009). An active composer, he received a 2009 Grammy nomination for his Piano Concertino (Best Contemporary Classical Composition) and a commission offered jointly by thirteen of America's major concert wind ensembles, which resulted in his 2012 Symphony for Band.

Reviews

'This volume offers a treasure trove for musicologists. Though the depth of its entries ranges widely, several chapters constitute major contributions to musicology, on a par with the level of original research and interpretation ordinarily reserved for doctoral theses. It also features an excellent bibliography of selected readings and a comprehensive index.' Mark Gridley, Music Reference Services Quarterly

'Essential reading - addressed to anyone who wants to deepen his knowledge of one of the most significant cultural icons of the twentieth century.' Danny Camerlengo, Suono (Italy)

'For the Ellington fan, the Ellington scholar, for anyone remotely interested in learning more about the man whom Green quite rightly calls 'America's greatest composer', The Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington is indispensable.' Mick Carlon, JazzTimes

'The book is extraordinary indeed!' Thomas Riis, Director of the American Music Research Center, University of Colorado

'[I] couldn't stop reading it. I am glad it has been published and the book can be recommended highly.' Louis Tavecchio, Universiteit van Amsterdam

'This Cambridge Companion helps the reader see two divide-and-conquer approaches to his artistic oeuvre: by decade, and by genres such as suites, songs, and the blues. Elling-tonians and professors will read this book from cover to cover, and students needing material for jazz term papers will be thankful for the analyses of individual pieces that are embedded in some of the essays.' Edward Komara, Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association