Labels:text | human face | person | man | letter OCR: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Ellington, Duke Duke Ellington A pianist, bandleader, and composer, Duke Ellington was one of the leading figures of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, the period when Harlem became the capital of black social and cultural life. With records like "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Rockin' in Rhythm," Ellington popularized the sound of big-band swing. His talent for tonal color led to critics comparing him to classical composers such as Delius and Debussy. Indeed, throughout his career, with tone poems, symphonies, and suites, Ellington took an ambitious orchestral approach to jazz His career faltered temporarily in the late 1940s with the demise of the big-band sound, but he remained a powerful innovator. Though a 1965 advisory Duke Ellington, U.S. jazz musician board of the Pulitzer Prize Committee rejected and bandleader, 1899-1974 the jury's recommendation for a special citation, Ellington was laden with other honors, such as the Presidential Medal from Lyndon B. Johnson. By the time of his death in 1974 he was regarded as the elder statesman of jazz. CHRONOLOGY
