TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I am Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Edward Kennedy Ellington, better known as Duke Ellington, born on April 29, 1899, was a composer, pianist, and bandleader whose contributions shaped the very fabric of jazz.
He wrote or collaborated on over 1,000 compositions, including “Mood Indigo” and “Take the A Train.” Part of his genius was blending the individual talent of his band members with sophisticated arrangements. Ellington’s music transcended the boundaries of jazz, incorporating elements of classical, blues, and swing.
Ellington embraced the phrase "beyond category," considering it a liberating principle and referring to his music as part of the more general category of American Music. In 1999, he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize Special Award for music.
This has been Rapp On Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible in part by Layman Poupard Publishers, producers of the Literary Criticism Series and the Dictionary of Literary Biography.