Free Lecture in Honor of Black History Month

To celebrate Black History Month, The Teaching Company is proud to present a free lecture, Duke Ellington—the Jazzman. Born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C., into a middle-class African American family, Duke Ellington (1899–1974) was a self-assured and talented musician. He became instrumental in the history of jazz—that wholly American music genre rooted in African rhythmical forms and the gospel/spiritual tradition. As one of the prime shapers of jazz, Ellington was a bandleader by the time he was 20. His band made its first recording when he was just 24, and by the time he was 28, his band was heard nationwide on NBC radio.

Considered by many to be the greatest composer in the history of jazz, Ellington's fame rose on his musical talents and his head for business. Radio and gramophone—both new inventions—coupled with broadcasts from the Cotton Club, one of the Harlem Renaissance's social centers patronized mainly by whites, helped push his music into the mainstream. Astute to change, by the mid-1930s Ellington's band had moved on to swing and created one of swing's signature songs: "It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing."

One of the highlights of his more than 50-year career included the 1943 Carnegie Hall debut of the symphonic scale "Black, Brown, and Beige." That marked the first time Carnegie Hall was devoted entirely to a work by a black composer.

Throughout his late career, Ellington witnessed the transformation of American racial politics. While he endured criticisms for being vocally reticent, he did refuse to perform before segregated audiences and his works carried criticisms of racism. What he did affect significantly was respect for the genre of jazz.

Access our free lecture, Duke Ellington—the Jazzman, to follow the international career of this phenomenally talented artist and discover why he was so influential.

Duke Ellington—the Jazzman is an excerpt from Professor Patrick N. Allitt's 48-lecture American Identity course. Professor Allitt is Professor of History at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He was born and raised in central England and received his B.A. in British and European History from Oxford University. He earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Allitt has served as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School and at the Princeton University Center for the Study of American Religion.

You may download this lecture and listen to it at your computer, transfer it to your iPod or MP3 player, or burn it to a CD. You may access your free lecture online between now and March 31, 2008. Please feel free to send the lecture link to friends who might also enjoy it. It is free for them as well.

Sincerely,

Brandon C. Hidalgo, CEO
The Teaching Company