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Rapp on Jazz: Jazz royalty

Jazz musician Duke Ellington prepares to strike up a tune for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong at the Rainbow Grill in New York City on Aug. 26, 1969. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
RON FREHM/ASSOCIATED PRESS
/
AP
Jazz musician Duke Ellington prepares to strike up a tune for Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong at the Rainbow Grill in New York City on Aug. 26, 1969. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I am Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.

Jazz is noted for celebrating some of its brightest stars with dazzling titles. The names in the pantheon of jazz royalty include Buddy "King" Bolden, Benny Goodman, King Oliver, and Nat King Cole.

Some Queens include The Queen of Swing, Mildred Bailey, The Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, and even The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith.

A few other similarly titled dignitaries include The Maharaja of the Keyboard: Oscar Peterson Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington; Chet “The Prince of Cool” Baker; William James "Count" Basie; Billie “Lady Day” Holiday and The Ambassador: Louis Armstrong. Lester Young was known as Prez or President, and we even have a Prince of Darkness: Miles Davis.

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.