The Soul of Duke: The Surprisingly Christian Roots of Duke Ellington’s Jazz

January 18, 2001

by William Edgar

For viewers who can’t get enough of Ken Burns’s latest documentary extravaganza, Jazz, here is a book that explores an undeveloped theme in the series: religion. According to biographer Janna Tull Steed, one of the great jazz impresarios, Duke Ellington, was highly influenced by his Christian faith.

Duke Ellington’s orchestral sound was completely original. He knew each of his players, their strengths and weaknesses, and wrote with each instrument in mind. Duke’s compositional technique was like the painter choosing color combinations and fitting them into the whole. Conductor André; Previn once commented that when band–leader Stan Kenton waved his arm to get a large string ensemble to make a certain sound, he and every studio arranger knew exactly what he had done, but when Duke Ellington lifted a finger toward three horns to make a blended sound, no one could figure out what he was doing. The intimate, close–harmony arrangement of Mood Indigo, for example, is a painting in sound, using the most unusual combination of a trumpet, a trombone, and a clarinet in a tight voicing hitherto uncharted in either jazz or classical orchestration. Where did all this creativity and originality come from?

Nearly thirty years after his death, many aspects of the music of Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899–1974) are still being brought to light. Janna Tull Steed’s Ellington: A Spiritual Biography is a welcome addition to the growing body of research on the jazz master. While she recounts the major events of his life, she does so with a special emphasis. Far more than previous accounts, Steed highlights Duke Ellington’s religious convictions. Her thesis is simple and argued without hagiographic overdraw. “His great passion and work sprang from an awareness of the presence of God in all of life,” she maintains. The narrative of biblical Christianity, particularly in its African–American version, is the underlying explanation for the astonishing artistic achievement of this foremost American musician.

…continue reading from Books&Culture.

Read More On culture, duke ellington, Jazz, music

William Edgar

Dr. Edgar (DThéol, Université de Genève) is professor of apologetics at WTS.