Duke's life is memorialized in the Terry Teachout authored "Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington". Over 400 pages worth, Terry's book takes the reader into the hidden parts of Duke's life--certainly the real drama behind Duke occurred behind the scenes rather than on-stage.
Terry is a brilliant storyteller who delves into uncharted territories of Duke's life; Duke would have probably wanted to keep hidden from the world. These have been gathered from unpublished interviews and reliable sources over the years.
One is drawn into this book by its striking cover - a sepia tone photo of Duke penning music while a thick puff of smoke is released from the cigarette in his other hand.
What makes this cover photo even more interesting is the fact that Duke has never been photographed from the left side since Duke has a scar on his left cheek resulting from a razor attack from his wife Edna back in 1929.
The story behind the scar revealed another truth; the fact that Duke was carrying on with an actress behind his wife's back.
Terry reveals a different Duke, a man who could weasel his way out of any situation just by applying his debonair personality to those he interacted with. It was this charm that he also used to become a favorite among the ladies; it would seen that Duke always got his way as he was successful enough to always be able to get in their beds.
Terry's book also paints Duke as a procrastinator who had a very nonchalant approach to his work and life. He was also known to be selfish and aloof, traits that believe it or not, contributed to his climb in the music industry.
Duke never had time to do anything for himself, according to Terry's book. His days were so overbooked that he only had time to rush to his New York apartment to retrieve his mail.
As the composer of such jazz standards as the lush "Mood Indigo" and "Sophisticated Lady", most suspected that Duke would be the kind of musician to churn out hits on the fly. This wasn't the case with Duke as Terry's book confirmed.
The book gives account of Duke never being able to keep deadlines; which led to many incomplete pieces. Duke used to fabricate compositions to the media and even talked about a grandeur piece called "My African Suite", a composition that never was, according to the book.
Back in the 1930s, an eloquent Duke convinced some of his toughest critics that he was in the middle of writing "My African Suite" which he first described as "being in five parts, starting in Africa and ending with the history of the American negro."
Terry's book said that by the time Duke got to other media personnel, the concept of "My African Suite" kept changing. Duke definitely had the reporters eating out of his hands.
Terry said it best when he summed up that "that was Ellington's way; he talked not to explain himself but to conceal himself."
The book also talked about Duke's inability to devote time to his music writing project for he had these "secret" composers that would help him to piece together most of his compositions. And when his composers were unable to assist, Duke's would string pieces of music together here and there and borrow compositions from various musicians to make things work.
Asked if Duke was a plagiarist, in a recent interview Terry said that Duke had many unacknowledged collaborators, one of which was Billy Strayhorn, one of Duke's closest's musical friends.
He also said that Duke was the person who made the ultimate decisions for the band and even wrote most of his instrumental pieces. However, according to Terry, bits of pieces of melodies of most of his big pop hits were written by his sidemen who he would give credit; others would not be so lucky.
Although he had numerous affairs with a variety of women, it was one of the things that Duke kept under wraps. He was able to pull this off by staying married to his wife Edna. The two never divorced however they separated after 11 years.
A glance back into his childhood definitely gives an incite to the prolific composer that we know today and his passion behind his compositions.
The book talks about his performances and what took place behind the scenes, the drama with his lovers and of course quotes from musicians who performed and worked with him.
There are also stunning photographs of Duke on stage doing what he did best and for those who have never explored Duke's musical catalog, the author suggests 50 of Duke's work that you can start with.
A good read overall, this is a book that should occupy your nightstand, one that will hold your interest for chilled winter nights and summer evenings to come.
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