Ellington studied piano from the page of 7, and by 1923, had moved to New York and formed his own band The Washingtonians. By 1930, the band, now known as the Duke Ellington Orchestra, had achieved national prominence through radio broadcasts, recordings and film appearances.

As the decades wore on, Ellington experimented with jazz in orchestral form and inaugurated a series of annual concerts at Carnegie Hall with the premiere of Black, Brown, and Beige, a jazz suite which recounted the struggle of African-Americans from the beginning of the 20th century.

Ellington became known for his ability to synthesize "many of the elements of American music—the minstrel song, ragtime, Tin Pan Alley tunes, the blues, and American appropriations of the European music tradition—into a consistent style."^[1]

In addition to numerous Grammy Awards, Ellington received the Presidential Medial of Freedom in 1969. Ellington continued composing and performing until his death in 1974.