Duke Ellington didn’t call it jazz. He called his music “American Music,” and liked to describe those who impressed him as “beyond category.”
But no one deserves that description more than The Duke.
Throughout the 2023–2024 season, the Kennedy Center commemorates Duke Ellington’s 125 birthday with institution-wide celebrations of the American icon who changed how the world heard music. An outstanding musician, charismatic band leader, and prolific composer, the Washington, D.C. native was an innovator across an expansive and eclectic range of styles…from pop and theatrical to swing, fusion, and beyond. See what’s coming and join the party!
Duke Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. In his fifty year career, he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as Asia. Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live on and will endure for generations to come.
Duke Ellington enjoyed tremendous success as a jazz musician and bandleader during the Harlem Renaissance. But Ellington saw that jazz could be more and push beyond a single category​.​ ​H​is 1950 symphonic composition, Harlem, demonstrated unprecedented storytelling through the jazz idiom.
Meet the actors, musicians, artists, dancers, writers, activists, and supporters of the early 20th century Harlem Renaissance, and discover the creative, cultural, and political “intersections” they made with each other.
In this Kennedy Center commission, two of today’s top vocalists explore how classical sounds intertwine with improvisational jazz in the music of Duke Ellington, blending European classical traditions with syncopated rhythms and African American work songs, blues, and spiritual music.
