Duke Ellington was born Edward Kennedy Ellington to parents Daisy Kennedy Ellington and Edward Ellington, on April 29, 1899. He was born in Washington D.C where his mother played parlor songs and his father operatic arias. Growing up in a musical household, Edward Ellington began piano lesson’s at age 7, wrote his first song when he was 15, and was invited to join the Wilbur Sweatman orchestra in New York City when he was 20. Ellington moved to Harlem and was ultimately in the heart of the Harlem Renaissance.
Duke Ellington and his Jazz Orchestra
Jazzy 20's 