Remembering Duke Ellington

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For more stories: http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish Duke Ellington was one of the leading jazz artists of the 20th century. He was also a native of Washington. Duke Ellington brought jazz to the world. He and his orchestra performed for millions of people. In 1969, President Richard Nixon gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Americas recording industry honored Ellington with 13 Grammy Awards. Today, his granddaughter, Mercedes Ellington, is head of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts. MERCEDES ELLINGTON:The music of Duke Ellington is of such a structure that it crosses generations and it makes, puts everybody on an even scale. Duke Ellington used to be very charming and very gracious, and appreciated his career to such an extent that, when he was invited to play in different countries especially, he would compose a suite dedicated to that country. He loved to go places he was not supposed to go. He never labeled his music. It was not jazz, it was not this. It was just, he said, it was American Music. Duke Ellington helped to break down racial barriers in the United States. MERCEDES ELLINGTON:The commonality between people is one of the things that I think that Ellington wanted to accentuate. He was always on the path of acknowledging what was really happening in the world. But the ideal of people being drawn together through music was his goal. And, he was constantly writing. Every day, he wrote. He wrote every day

Published 2010-04-29 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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