The Duke Ellington Orchestra currently performs under the leadership of a member of the third generation of the Ellington family. Duke Ellington is considered one of the most prolific American composers of the twentieth century and one of the most influential figures in the world of jazz. With the orchestra he founded in 1923, Ellington initially rose to fame at Harlem’s legendary Cotton Club. Arguably, however, it was his 1956 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival that sealed his place among the jazz greats. Over the course of a more than fifty-year career, he embarked on numerous world tours, taking in Europe, North and South America and Asia. He wrote himself into the history of American music with his inventive and charismatic approach to orchestral playing and jazz in general. His extensive body of work, which runs to more than a thousand compositions, is still the largest recorded jazz legacy. Along with his many compositions for his orchestra, many of which have become jazz standards, Ellington wrote film music and musicals. Following his death, the orchestra was taken over by his son Mercer Ellington, who continued his father’s legacy by composing for the orchestra. He led the ensemble until 1996, when it passed into the hands of Mercer’s eldest son Paul Ellington, who continues to lead the orchestra today. Born and raised in Denmark, Paul Ellington moved to the United States to study at the Manhattan School of Music with pianist Peter Vinograde and, later, with Tommy James. He made his debut as a composer at Lincoln Center, where he received huge ovations.

• Among the most notable soloists in the Duke Ellington Orchestra were the saxophonists Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, whose unique styles shaped the sound of the ensemble.
• Duke Ellington is one of the most prolific composers in the history of jazz, with more than 1,000 compositions to his credit, including many that are today jazz standards.
• Duke Ellington also made a significant contribution to film music – among his most successful works in this genre are his scores for the films Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961).
• The Duke Ellington Orchestra gave its first concert at Carnegie Hall on 23 January 1943. It was on this occasion that Ellington introduced his monumental suite Black, Brown and Beige, an attempt to tell the story of African Americans through jazz.