Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra: 2 (Great Black Performers)

The music of Duke Ellington--pianist, composer, band-leader--is a uniquely American treasure. He kept a big band together for half a century and wrote music that will never get old, such as "Mood Indigo." He also thrived as a musician against the odds of racism. In this, he can inspire the youth for whom this little book was written.But if you go deeper and study his life, you find a flawed man: a serial adulterer, a man who took credit for music he did not write, and a phony who projected an image of sophistication he did not truly possess. Terry Teachout's book on Ellington makes this all-too-clear. However, the story of this celebrated musician is fascinating, not least of which are his "sacred concerts" from the last years of his life.

Great facts, great illustration, written in a very fun, appealing and authentic style.

I have always loved the illustrations (scratch board technique) of Brian Pinkney and the writings of his wife, Andrea Davis Pinkney and when they work together, they produce a book that is invaluable for use in a classroom of elementary students! My students attended "The Nutcracker Ballet" in December 2013 and since I teach in a school of all African-American students, when we came back from our field trip, we listened to a CD of the "Harlem Nutcracker" ballet music that uses the Duke Ellington version of Tchaikovsky's music. When February come around, I had ordered 6 of these paperback books that were used but in Good or Very Good condition (1 cent each!) so that we could read and learn about Duke Ellington. My students learned about him and also about Harlem and the Cotton Club. A great book for students!

I hope to collect every book like this that comes out on Jazz artists to help teach my young students.

I read this in my 4th grade music class and they loved it. Students learned a lot about Duke Ellington, and I liked the way the story was written in a rhythmic way that portrayed how Duke Ellington would have spoken in his day