Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington

(Hardback)

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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."

Reviews

"Mr Teachout adroitly chronicles how Ellington coaxed from his ensemble such timeless hits as "Mood Indigo". And he adeptly evokes the personalities of the ducal band." The Economist "Drawing on candid, unpublished interviews, Teachout tells a compelling story." Choice Magazine "Terry Teachout [ - ] chronicles this life in meticulous detail - probably gets as close to the Duke as we'll ever get." The Times "This impeccably written and researched tome gives us vivid glimpses of the real man behind the mask." Record Collector "There are dozens of books about Ellington, this is among the most remarkable." Mojo "He keeps his psychoanalysis within safe limits; he contextualises historically without sounding contrived, and honours his subject's musical achievements through just the right amount of close analysis." Scotsman Magazine "'Reviewers appreciate his ability to convey the power of Ellington's music - Teachout both 'clearly elucidates Ellington's mastery as a composer' and also provides an 'impressively lucid, compact narrative.'" The Oldie "Excellent, revelatory and, with eighty-one pages of source notes, copiously documented book." TLS

Author Bio

Terry Teachout is the drama critic for The Wall Street Journal. He blogs about the arts at www.terryteachout.com. His previous books include Pops: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, All in the Dances: A Brief Life of George Balanchine, The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken, and A Terry Teachout Reader. A trained musician who has played jazz professionally, he has also written two plays, Satchmo at the Waldorf and Breaking and Entering, and the libretti for three operas by Paul Moravec, The Letter, Danse Russe, and The King's Man.