Duke Ellington

In '72, filmmaker William Greaves hosted a cocktail party for the surviving members of the Harlem Renaissance. Our critic says the footage is "like watching a 50th college reunion set on Mt. Olympus."

On this episode of NPR's From the Top, we're celebrating Ravel's 150th birthday with a septet of teens performing Ravel's "Introduction and Allegro," and a teen pianist treats us to one of Ravel's most iconic piano works. We also meet a talented young saxophonist who finds inspiration in Duke Ellington.

A new book by Larry Tye -- The Jazzmen -- traces how the popularity of musicians Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Count Basie affected the civil rights movement.

From the early days of his career in the 1930s until his death in 1974, Duke Ellington continually pushed the boundaries of jazz, writing suites, film scores, and "symphonic" works.

He called it "a parallel to the history of the American Negro." Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige wasn't an immediate hit, but it set a tone for ambitious, provocative works about black life.

In July 1970, Duke Ellington recorded two tunes engineered by Conny Plank. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says The Conny Plank Session,which is now on CD, is a window onto Ellington's working method.

Willie Ruff, a soldier at the age of 14 and a graduate of Yale at the age of 22, has crossed the paths of many of the giants in the music world, including…

Nowhere is the legacy of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington — among the greatest composer/bandleaders in history — more profound than at the Washington, D.C., arts high school that bears his name.

When the prolific composer died in 1974, he left one of his most ambitious projects unfinished. Forty years later, admirers are still trying to fill in the blanks.

Duke Ellington's piece for Queen Elizabeth II is included in a new collection of late-period suites.