The Duke Ellington Reader

Perhaps America's greatest composer and musician, Edward Kennedy ``Duke'' Ellington (1899-1974) is the subject of several biographies and an autobiography, Music Is My Mistress (1973). This first historical anthology of writings about Ellington's life and music, ably edited by Columbia University music professor Tucker ( Ellington: The Early Years ), is a treasure chest of some 100 essays and remembrances by such authors as Ralph Ellison, Gunther Schuller, Stanley Crouch, Nat Hentoff, Albert Murray and Stanley Dance. Topically, the essays, originally published between 1923 and 1986, include general commentary (by R. D. Darrell, Martin Williams and others), musical analysis (a chapter on Ellington's composition, ``Black, Brown and Beige''), more than a dozen interviews with Ellington, profiles of Ellington band members (Johnny Hodges, Billy Strayhorn, Ivie Anderson, Sonny Greer and Ben Webster), reviews of performances and recordings (including the first published reviews of Ellington's music), and some of Duke's own writings. The volume also includes the complete text of Richard O. Boyer's 1944 New Yorker profile. (Oct.)