Duke - Life Of Duke Ellington by Terry Teachout

Duke - Life Of Duke Ellington by Terry Teachout

A major new biography of Duke Ellington from the acclaimed author of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong

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.

The WallStreet Journal's theater critic Terry Teachout is the author of Pops: A Biography of Louis Armstrong and Satchmo at the Waldorf, a one-man play on Armstrong's life and times. He currently resides in New York City.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781592407491
ISBN 10	1592407498
Title	Duke - Life Of Duke Ellington
Author	Terry Teachout
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Book
Publisher	Avery Publishing Group
Year published	2013-10-17
Number of pages	483
Prizes	Short-listed for National Book Awards (Nonfiction) 2013
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.