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1976/08/10 - Salute to Duke Ellington, New York City
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1976/08/10 - Salute to Duke Ellington, New York City
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Frances K. Pullen Files
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President (1974-1977 : Ford). Office of the First Lady. 1974-1977
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The original documents are located in Box 2, folder "1976/08/10 - Salute to Duke Ellington,
New York City" of the Frances K. Pullen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Scanned from Box 2 of the Frances K. Pullen Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Suggested Remarks, Ellington-Ailey Opening Night
In this very special year, we honor those original
and daring dreamers who created and won our first
Revolution. This marriage of the music of Duke
Ellington and the dance of the Alvin Ailey Company
celebrates what America cherishes most those who
reach for the stars.
In music, in dance, in all of life it is the
Revolutionaries who chart new territory for us to
explore. I know we are in for a marvelous journey
tonight.
-0-
honor
In this very special year, we remember those
original and daring dreamers who created and won
our first Revolution. Tonight, this marriage of
the music of Duke Ellington and the dance of the
Alvin Ailey Company celebrates what America cherishes
most
those who reach for the stars.
In music, in dance, in all of life it is
the revolutionaries who chart new territory for
us to explore. I know we are in for a
marvelous journey tonight.
-0-
Dure Ellington
Alvin Ailey Dancers
his his tritutotoBicent
chreograghed to Alleigton's music
official open - The lencul
(3,000 )
For immediate release
Wednesday, Aug. 4, 1976
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary to Mrs. Ford
Mrs. Ford will open a six-day celebration of the music of
Duke Ellington by the Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theatre
in New York Tuesday, August 10. The opening. which will
launch Alvin Ailey's tribute to the Bicentennial, will be at
the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center at 8 p.m.
The opening night program includes the Ailey Company and
the Ellington Orchestra, with a special guest performance
planned by Mikhail Baryshnikov. Mr. Baryshnikov will
perform Alvin Ailey's "pas de 'DUKE' 11 with Judith Jamison.
Among performances by the Ailey Company and the Ellington
Orchestra will be "Night Creature" and "Caravan." The
Alvin Ailey Repertory Workshop will also perform.
Baryshnikov is a permanent guest artist with the American
Ballet Theatre.
####
Kaye
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 29, 1976
MEMORANDUM TO:
PETER SORUM
FROM:
SUSAN PORTER
SUBJECT:
Action Memo
Mrs. Ford has accepted the following out-of-town invitation:
EVENT: Opening night of Alvin Ailey Dance Company and the
Duke Ellington Orchestra
DATE: Tuesday, August 10, 1976
TIME: 8:00 p.m.
PLACE: New York State Theater at Lincoln Center
New York, New York
CONTACTS: Mr. Edward Lander
O: 212-832-1740
H: 212-866-6241
Press Contact:
Meg Gordean
212-245-4771
COMMENTS: Mrs. Ford will participate in the opening evening of a
six-day celebration of the music of Duke Ellington.
On this evening, Alvin Ailey will launch his long-planned
contribution to the Bicentennial with some sixteen
ballets choreographed to Duke's compositions. The
Duke Ellington Orchestra will join the Alvin Ailey
City Center Dance Theater for this engagement with
guest performances by American Ballet Theatre and the
Alvin Ailey Repertory Workshop.
The invitation was originally extended to Mrs. Ford by
Ruth Ellington, Duke Ellington's sister, on behalf of
the Dance Theater Foundation and is to be a major event
in the Bicentennial celebration.
- 2 -
As you know, Mrs. Ford dropped by a special
Duke Ellington concert held at the Cathedral of
St. John the Divine when she was in New York on
April 29th. Mrs. Ford will overnight and return
to Washington Wednesday morning, August 11th.
Thank you.
C: BF Staff
Red Cavaney
William Nicholson
Jerry Jones
Terry O'Donnell
David Gergen
Warren Hendriks
Sarah Massengale
Milt Mitler
Rex Scouten
Staircase
The Alvin Ailey
City Center
Dance Theater
Mr. Contact: Edward hadve,
229 East 59th Street
(212) 832-1740, Scr#
(212)868-6241 Home
New York, New York 10022
-
may Lordean, Press
(212) 832-1740
(212)245-4771
June 29, 1976
Ms. Susan Porter
The White House
Washington, D.C.
8:00pm (11:0.
Dear Ms. Porter:
As a member of the Board of Trustees of Dance Theater Founda-
tion, Inc., I would like to extend an invitation to Mrs. Betty
Ford to join us on the opening evening, Tuesday, August 10, of
a six-day celebration of the music of my late brother, Edward
"Duke" Ellington. On this evening, Alvin Ailey will launch his
long-planned contribution to the Bicentennial at the New York
State Theater at Lincoln Center with some sixteen ballets choreo-
graphed to Duke's compositions. The Duke Ellington Orchestra
will join the Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater for this en-
gagement with guest performances by American Ballet Theatre and
the Alvin Ailey Repertory Workshop.
The opening night program includes the Ailey Company and the
Ellington Orchestra in performances of "Night Creature", choreo-
graphed by Mr. Ailey, and "Caravan", last season's popular addi-
tion to the Company repertoire, choreographed by Louis Falco,
and, Judith Jamison will perform Mr. Ailey's "pas de 'DUKE'"
with guest artist, Mikhail Baryshnikov.
We were delighted that Mrs. Ford joined us recently at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine to open Duke's Birthday Cele-
bration and regret that her busy schedule did not allow her to
remain with us for the entirety of that thrilling evening. Now
I would like to invite Mrs. Ford to join us for this opening
evening of a major event in our Nation's Bicentennial Celebration.
Very trul yours
Ruth Ellington
(212)
0: 249-7500
The Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater is produced by Dance Theater Foundation, Inc., α non-profit, tax-exempt corpor
News photo by Tom Monaster
Betty Ford enjoys get-together with members of the Alvin Ailey dance troupe at Lincoln Center.
Coach Betty Sends Ailey Ballet
Daily Out There Dancing Pg on a Cloud
52/11/8
By RICHARD EDMONDS
Betty Ford took the spotlight with the flashy Alvin Ailey City Center Dance
Theater last night when she confided backs tage at Lincoln Center to superstar ballerina
Judith Jamison: "I still practice my ballet exercises in a large bathroom with a lot of
mirrors when nobody is looking."
The first lady was trading
the dancers, Mrs. Ford, who
dance stories with the Ailey
uproarious applause from assem-
onced worked with nonprofit
troupe in an impromptu pep talk
bled press and dignitaries.
companies like Ailey's remarked:
before the opening performance
The first lady was rushed by
"Isn't it enough satisfaction to
all 24 Ailey dancers who wanted
dance? Just to dance without
of a two-week tribute to Duke
Ellington.
to shake her hand. Ballerina
being paid for it.
Sarito Allen told Mrs. Ford:
Minutes later, in a brief" cur-
Mrs. Ford, elegantly attired in
a pink Albert Cabraro mandarin-
"You look great," to which Mrs.
tain speech that brought the full-
style gown, generated instant
Ford replied: "I know you will be
house to its feet in the New York
great."
State Theater, Mrs. Ford said: "I
rapport with the young dancers
Mrs. Ford, who studied modern
am proud to celebrate the mar-
when she smiled and told them:
dance with Martha Graham,
riage of two revolutionary art
"I expect the very best from you
would not say when she last
forms, Duke Ellington musie and
all out there tonight."
danced for an audience. Recover-
Alvin Ailey dance."
Then Betty Ford put the icing
ed from a bout with osteoarthri-
Ailey who worked for three
on the cake with a light flowing
tis that kept her on a limited
years to choreograph the works,
series of basic ballet steps of
schedule last weekend, she greet-
was recovering last night in
basic ballet steps with the tower-
ed Miss Jamison with a bear hug.
Lenox Hill Hospital from an
ing Miss Jamison that elicited
Clearly elated by her visit with
emergency appendectomy.
FOCUS NO. 1-5756
MAY 24, 1974
SEROPIAN/NELSON
DUKE.. ELLINGTON
(OBIT)
INTRO:
THE AMERICAN JAZZ MUSICIAN--DUKE ELLINGTON--HAS DIED
IN A NEW YORK HOSPITAL AT THE AGE OF SEVENTY FIVE. HERE
IS A SURVEY OF HIS CAREER.
TEXT:
THE DUKE, AS HE WAS KNOWN, WHOSE SOPHISTICATED MUSIC
MADE HIM ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BAND LEADERS OF THIS
CENTURY, RECEIVED JUST ABOUT EVERY HONOR THAT COULD COME
TO A MUSICIAN. AND PERHAPS HIS PROUDEST MOMENT CAME ON
THE OCCASION OF HIS SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY APRIL TWENTY
NINTH NINETEEN SIXTY NINE WHEN PRESIDENT NIXON PRESENTED
TO HIS THE MEDAL OF FREEDOM, THE NATION'S HIGHEST
CIVILIAN AWARD.
AT THAT TIME MISTER NIXON SAID: IN THE ROYALTY OF
AMERICAN MUSIC, NO MAN SWINGS MORE OR STANDS HIGHER
THAN THE DUKE.
HIS COMPOSITIONS AND THEY RUN INTO THE HUNDREDS--
ARE KNOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD: SACRED MUSIC, TONE POEMS,
BACKGROUND SCORES FOR MOVIES AND STAGE DRAMAS, BALLETS AND
OPERAS, FROM THE LILTING, JAZZY "TAKE THE A TRAIN" TO THE
SAD ROMANTIC TUNES LIKE MOOD INDIGO. AND YET THIS
MAN--ALWAYS COOL, ALWAYS IMPECCABLE AND ALWAYS COMPOSED--
WAS MODEST ABOUT HIS ACHIEVEMENTS. HE WAS BASICALLY QUIET
AND HE AVOIDED CONTROVERSY. HE JUST DID HIS THING-- THE
THING THAT NO ONE ELSE COULD DO AS WELL--MAKING AND WRITING
USIC THAT ALWAYS WILL BE PART OF AMERICA'S CULTURE.
FOCUS NO. 1-5756
PAGE 2
DUKE ELLINGTON WAS ARRANGER, BANDLEADER, SHOWMAN,
AND MORE. "OH, WE'RE INTO EVERYTHING!" HE ONCE TOLD
VOA.
ELLINGTON TAPE:
(OPT) (IN) AND THEN OF COURSE I'M A PLAYWRIGHT --
BUT OF COURSE I HAVEN'T HAD ANY OF MY WORKS DONE. (OUT)
(END OPT)
VOICE:
ELLINGTON LIKED TO WRITE AND RHYME IN HIS SPARE
TIME. YOU ONLY WONDER WHEN HE EVEN FOUND THAT SPARE
TIME BETWEEN COMPOSING, RECORDING AND TOURING WITH
HIS BAND. HE TRAVELED THIS COUNTRY AND THE WORLD,
OFTEN, CONSTANTLY ON THE GO, AND INTO SOMETHING NEW.
THE DUKE WAS BORN ON A LATE APRIL DAY, EIGHTEEN
NINETY-NINE, IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AT AGE SEVEN HE WAS
ONLY INTO ONE HING: STUDYING AND PLAYING THE PIANO.
TWELVE YEARS LATER IT FORMED HIS FIRST BAND. THEN
THE PACE QUICKENED. WHAT DREW HIM LIKE A MAGNET
WAS THE "BIG APPLE," NEW YORK, AND, IN NINETEEN TWENTY-
SEVEN, HE OPENED THERE AT THE KENTUCKY CLUB ON
BROADWAY. THEN CAME FIVE YEARS AT THE COTTON CLUB.
DUKE ELLINGTON AND HIS BAND BECAME AN INSTITUTION.
THE SOUND OF EACH INSTRUMENT SECTION WAS DEFINITELY,
UNMISTAKABLY ELLINGTON AND so, OF COURSE, WAS THE
QUALITY OF HIS OWN PIANO PLAYING
(OPT) TAPE/MUSIC: "SATIN DOLL" -- TIME: 1:45 --
FADE AT WILL. (END OPT)
VOICE:
DUKE ELLINGTON WROTE ONE POPULAR SONG AFTER
THE OTHER: "MOOD INDIGO," "SOPHISTICATED LLADY,"
FOCUS NO. 1-5756
PAGE 3
"SOLITUDE," "IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD," "BLUE HARLEM,".
HE SAID: "I GET MY KICKS HEARING MY BAND PLAY BACK WHAT
I WROTE THE NIGHT BEFORE." AND HE KNEW HOW TO WRITE FOR
ACH MEMBER OF HIS BAND. HE KNEW THE PARTICULAR
TONE QUALITY EACH ONE COULD PRODUCE, AND THE SPECIAL
ACCENTS HE COULD PUT ON THE IMPORTANT NOTES AND
PASSAGES.
OF COURSE, EVERYTHING THE DUKE WROTE WAS JAZZ
INSPIRED AND BECAME HIS OWN INTERPRETATION OF THAT KIND
OF MUSIC. JAZZ WAS ON HIS MIND AND IN HIS BLOOD, AND
HE WAS ALWAYS AWARE OF ITS ORIGINS
ELLINGTON TAPE:
(IN) EVERYTHING, FROM WHAT THEY CALL JAZZ, UP TO
WHAT THEY CALL THE BIG BEAT -- -- IT'S ALL AFRICAN
FOUNDATION. (OUT)
VOICE:
DUKE ELLINGTON EMPHASIZED THAT FACT IN MANY OF HIS
TONE POEMS. AND HE WROTE A SPECIAL PIECE, CALLED "DRUM
IS A WOMAN," IN WHICH HE TRACED THE HISTORY OF JAZZ FROM
ITS AFRICAN ORIGINS TO ITS FULL REALIZATION IN AMERICA.
(OPT) AT ONE POINT, DURING THE HEIGHT OF ROCK 'N ROLL,
THE DUKE ELLINGTON SOUND SEEMED TO BE FADING FROM THE
SCENE. BUT IN THOSE YEARS THIS UNIQUE MAN WAS ALREADY
INTO SOMETHING NEW AGAIN. HE WROTE HIS FIRST WORK OF
SACRED MUSIC, AND HE PRESENTED IT IN THE FALL OF
NINETEEN SIXTY-FIVE AT THE GRACE CATHEDRAL IN SAN
FRANCISCO. THE DUKE HAD TURNED YET ANOTHER CORNER, IN
YET ANOTHER FORM OF MUSIC
FOCUS NO. 1-5756
PAGE 4
ELLINGTON TAPE:
(OPT) (IN) THIS IS A FORM OF WORSHIP. AND so,
YOU CAN'T SAY SUPERFLUOUS THINGS. AND, OF COURSE, YOU
JUST DON'T PLAY WITH THIS. THIS HAS TO BE RIGHT -- IT
HAS TO BE TRUE. (OUT) (END OPT)
VOICE:
DUKE ELLINGTO!! TALKED ABOUT HIMSELF SOMETIMES,
DEFINING HIS QUEST IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC (HE SAID).
ELLINGTON TAPE:
(IN) IT'S A CONSTANT PURSUIT OF THAT ONE THING.
YOU NEVER CATCH IT. YOU SOMETIMES HEAR IT AT A GREAT
DISTANCE -- AND THEN AGAIN YOU HEAR IT GETTING CLOSER
AND CLOSER -- AND SOMETIMES YOU THINK IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH
TO TOUCH --- AND YOU REACH OUT AND GRAB IT -- AND ALL
THAT YOU GET IS A LITTLE PIECE OF THE TAIL. (OUT)
VOICE:
THE VOICE OF DUKE ELLINGTON WHO DIED AT SEVENTY-FIVE,
NO LONGER PURSUING THAT ONE THING THAT GAVE MEANING TO
HIS LIFE
NCA/RK/SB
252
ELLET-ELLINGTON
ELLET, el'at, Charles (1810-1862), American
(1931) and Reminiscing in Tempo (1933), he
civil engineer, best known for his suspension
explored the possibilities of extended form
bridges. Ellet was born in Penn's Manor, Bucks
jazz. Among his more notable achievements in
county, Pa., on Jan. 1, 1810. He went to work on
this vein are Black, Brown and Beige, Deep
the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in 1828 and ad-
South Suite, Harlem, New World A-Comin', and
vanced to assistant engineer. In 1830 he went to
Such Sweet Thunder, which was inspired by
study at the École Polytechnique in Paris.
Shakespeare. Such Sweet Thunder, as well 25
On his return to the United States, Ellet be-
many other Ellington compositions, was written
came famous for his surveys for canal and railroad
in collaboration with Billy Strayhorn (1915-
routes. In 1842 he constructed America's first
1967). Strayhorn, an associate of Ellington from
important suspension bridge over the Schuylkill
1939, acted as the Duke's musical alter ego.
River near Philadelphia, using the French tech-
Although Ellington was a strikingly impres-
nique of bundling small wires together to make
sive pianist, it was soon recognized that his pr-
the cables. In 1848 he designed and built a foot-
mary instrumental expression was his orchestra
bridge over the Niagara, and in 1849 his bridge
His scoring of his own orchestral works was char-
crossing the Ohio River at Wheeling, W. Va.,
acterized by a richness and subtlety of textures
was completed. This was a suspended span of
approached by no other arranger of jazz music.
303 meters (1,010 feet), then the longest bridge
He preferred to write for the particular strengths
in the world.
of each of his musicians, many of whom were
An advocate of ram boats during the Civil
acknowledged jazz instrumental virtuosos. A
War, Ellet was fatally injured leading the capture
number of his key musicians remained with him
of Memphis with nine remodeled riverboats. He
for long periods, sometimes for decades. The
died in Cairo, Ill., on June 21, 1862.
phenomenon, unique among jazz groups, pro-
THOMAS KINGSTON DERRY
vided Ellington with a long-standing knowledge
Coauthor of "A Short History of Technology"
of the strengths of specific interpreters of has
music, an advantage not available to most com-
ELLICE ISLANDS, an archipelago in the central
posers who write for large orchestras.
Pacific Ocean, part of the Gilbert and Ellice Is-
By the time he was 50, Ellington had earned
lands colony. See GILBERT AND ELLICE ISLANDS.
so much money from royalties on his compost
tions that he could have withdrawn from the
ELLICOTT CITY, el'a-kat, an unincorporated com-
strenuous traveling that is required to keep a jun
munity in central Maryland, is the seat of Howard
orchestra together, but he preferred to maintain
county, on the Patapsco River, 13 miles (20 km)
his orchestra SO that he could hear his music per
west of the center of Baltimore. It is primarily
formed as soon as it was written. Ellington.
a residential area.
commitment to music was nearly total. When be
Ellicott's Mills, from which the community
was not performing, he was composing-during
developed, was a small town built around flour
the long, hard road trips or during his brief stars
mills established in 1774 by three brothers, John,
at home in New York City.
Joseph, and Andrew Ellicott. The first section of
Ellington considered his music both a per
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which was
sonal chronicle and a continuation and reaffirms
opened on May 24, 1830, ran from Baltimore to
Ellicott City. The community was incorporated
as a village in 1867 but reverted to unincorpo-
DUKE ELLINGTON was one of the first to compose and
rated status in 1935. Population: 9,506.
arrange jazz music for a large orchestra.
PARIS.WARD
ELLINGTON, Duke (1899-
), American jazz
composer, orchestra leader, and pianist, who
created the single most durable body of original
jazz compositions and shaped the most distinctive
and resourceful large jazz orchestra.
Life. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in
Washington, D. C., on April 29, 1899. He was
the son of a butler, who later became a Navy
blueprint maker. Ellington began studying piano
at the age of six. He also revealed a pronounced
talent in the graphic arts and, after graduating
from high school, was awarded a scholarship to
Pratt Institute, a technological school in Brook-
lyn, New York. But Ellington chose music, and
by 1918 he was a successful band leader in
Washington. He was unsuccessful, however, in
his first efforts to move his base of operations to
New York City, but in 1923 he formed an or-
chestra there and gradually established himself.
His popularity became national and, finally, inter-
national.
Music. Ellington wrote diversely evocative
popular songs, and many of them-including Soli-
tude, Sophisticated Lady, and Mood Indigo-be-
came standard favorites in the repertoires of
dance orchestras. He was also one of the first
jazz writers to work in longer forms, which could
not be accommodated on one side of a 10-inch,
78-rpm recording. Starting with Creole Rhapsody
ELLIOTT-ELLIPSE
253
tion of the musical heritage of the American
a national educational system for workers, and
Negro. In 1965, when the Pulitzer advisory
proposed state legislation on wages and hours.
board rejected the suggestion of its music jury
Defeated for the post of attorney general of
that a special citation be given to him, Elling-
South Carolina in 1876, he served as special
ton's response was characteristically urbane and
agent for the U.S. Treasury Department in
ironic: "Fate," the 66-year-old composer said,
Charleston and New Orleans and practiced law
"doesn't want me to be too famous too young.
until his death, in New Orleans, on Aug. 9, 1884.
NAT HENTOFF
JAMES J. KENNEALLY, Stonehill College
Coeditor of "The Jazz Makers"
Further Reading: Dance, Stanley, The World of Duke
ELLIPSE, i-lips', a closed curve resulting from
Ellington (Scribner 1970); Shapiro, Nat, and Hentoff,
eds., Hear Me Talkin' to Ya (Smith, P. 1955);
the intersection of a plane and a cone. It can
Shapiro, Nat, Nat, and Hentoff, Nat, eds., The Jazz Makers
also be defined as the locus of a point P in the
Rinehart 1957).
plane, the sum of whose distances to two fixed
points, the foci, is constant. Or, equivalently, it
ELLIOTT, Charles Loring (1812-1868), Ameri-
is the locus of a point P in the plane such that
can portrait painter. He was born in Scipio,
its distance to a fixed point F (a focus) divided
N.Y., on Oct. 12, 1812, the son of an architect.
by its distance to a fixed line m (the directrix) is
He studied art in New York City under John
a constant e (the eccentricity), where e is less
Trumbull and John Quidor and worked for a
than 1. Fig. 1 illustrates an ellipse with foci F,
time as a traveling portrait painter. In 1845 he
and F2 where F, is the focus corresponding to the
set up his own studio in New York City. He
directrix m, and F2 the focus corresponding to
died in Albany, N. Y., on Aug. 25, 1868.
the directrix m'.
Elliott had little idea of the composition of
The center of symmetry of an ellipse is lo-
Large canvases and is said to have painted only
cated midway between its foci. This is the point
one landscape in his career. He painted several
O of Fig. 1. Any line through the center inter-
characters from fiction including Don Quixote
sects the ellipse in two points. The line segment
and Falstaff, but his reputation was made with
joining these two points is called a diameter. The
his portraits. These, usually only heads or busts,
longest diameter is called the major axis and the
were generally good likenesses of his subjects.
shortest diameter the minor axis. These axes are
Among his more than 700 subjects were the pho-
perpendicular to each other and are said to have
tographer Mathew B. Brady and the novelist
lengths of 2a and ab respectively. A circle is a
James Fenimore Cooper.
special case of an ellipse in which a = b = radius.
The foci and center of a circle are all the same
ELLIOTT, Herb (1938-
), Australian runner,
point. The area of an ellipse is πab. There is no
who never lost a mile or a 1,500-meter race and
simple formula for the circumference of an ellipse
who ran the mile 17 times under 4 minutes. He
comparable to the formula 2πr for that of a
set world records at both distances and capped
circle.
his athletic career by winning the 1,500-meter
An interesting property of an ellipse is that
tace in the 1960 Olympic games by the widest
a beam of light or sound starting at one focus
margin ever in that Olympic event.
Elliott was born in Perth on Feb. 25, 1938.
He set world junior records for the mile and
1,500 meters for competitors under 20. On his
ELEMENTS OF AN ELLIPSE
first tour abroad in 1958 he ran the mile in under
1 minutes in 10 of 12 races, topped by a world
m'
(o,b)
y
m
record of 3:54.5. His next international test came
ES: the 1960 Rome Olympics, in which he set a
world 1,500-meter record of 3:35.6. His brief
post-Olympic competition ended his serious rac-
F2
F1
mg. Standing 5 feet, 11½ inches (1.81 meters)
and weighing 150 pounds, Elliott epitomized
(-c,o)
0
(c,o)
(a,o)
power in his strides. He dominated his rivals
with long bursts of speed.
JESSE ABRAMSON, Former President
Track Writers Association of New York
ELLIOTT, Robert Brown (1842-1884), American
Fig. 1 Ellipse in rectangular coordinates
= political leader. The son of West Indian immi-
cants, he was born in Boston on Aug. 11, 1842.
11. graduated from Eton College in 1859 and
y
codied law in England and in Boston. Settling
South Carolina, he was admitted to the bar
and became editor of the Charleston Leader. A
FORD
skilled orator, able to read five languages, he en-
wind politics as a member of the state constitu-
total convention of 1868. He served in the state
House of Representatives (1868-1870) and as a
oqwaker of the House (1874-1876); and in Con-
r
(1871-1874).
F
0
A Negro, Elliott continually championed vot-
protection for blacks and received national
walaim for his eloquent plea in Congress for the
Carl Rights Act of 1875. On behalf of the work-
Fig. 2 Ellipse in polar coordinates
meman, Elliott attended labor conventions, urged
quences for millions more. In line with his liberal
United Church of Christ. The Egebergs' large, mod-
position on medical and social matters, Dr. Egeberg
ern home in north Hollywood is filled with antique
has urged the easing of obsolescent marijuana-con-
Norwegian furniture and art objects, and they cele-
trol laws, disagreeing with some members of the
brate Christmas in traditional Norwegian style.
Nixon Administration who have sought stiffer penal-
During vacations Roger Egeberg enjoys roughing it
ties.
at his ranch in the hills of northern California.
A few months after Egeberg took office, Demo-
cratic Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff of Connecticut
References
announced, in September 1969, that he would urge
Nat Observer p7 Jl 7 '69 por
a reorganization in HEW to upgrade the post of
N Y Post p22 Jl 5 '69 por
Assistant Secretary for Health and Scientific Affairs.
N Y Times p42 Je 29 '69
He pointed out that although Egeberg was con-
Washington (D.C.) Post A pl+ Je 29 '69;
sidered the government's top health administrator,
A p8 Jl 10 '69 por
he had direct control over only $2.8 billion of the
Who's Who in America, 1968-69
$18.3 billion being spent by the government on
health programs in 1969.
Dr. Egeberg has published articles in professional
ELLINGTON, DUKE
journals on hospital administration, community
service programs, medical education, and his own
Apr. 29, 1899- Composer; band leader; pianist
medical specialty-the ecology of coccidioides im-
Address: b. Associated Booking Corp., 445 Park
mitis, a fungus disease of the lungs. In California
Ave., New York 10022; h. 52 W. 58th St., New
he was chairman of the Governor's Committee on
York 10019
the Study of Medical Aid and Health and of the
Committee on Regional Medical Programs. Before
NOTE: This biography supersedes the article that
accepting his HEW appointment he had served the
appeared in Current Biography in 1941.
federal government as a member of the President's
Panel for Special Study on Narcotics in 1962, the
The single most impressive body of composition in
Presidential Advisory Commission on Narcotics and
American jazz is the lush, complexly harmonic
Drug Abuse in 1963, the National Advisory Cancer
repertoire that band leader-pianist-composer Duke
Council of the National Cancer Institute from 1964
Ellington has produced over the past half century.
to 1968, the Special Medical Advisory Group to
The Ellington canon comprises more than 900 pub-
the Veterans Administration, the President's Health
lished pieces, ranging from such popular classics
Manpower Commission in 1966, and President-elect
as "Satin Doll," "Sophisticated Lady," "In My
Nixon's task force on health in 1968-69.
Solitude," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore,"
In 1965 Egeberg became chairman of the medi-
"Mood Indigo," and "I Let a Song Go Out of My
cal advisory committee of the Los Angeles chapter
Heart" to sacred music, symphonic pieces, and
of the Planned Parenthood-World Population Asso-
incidental music for plays and motion pictures.
ciation. He is a diplomate of the American Board
Most of the compositions are written expressly for
of Internal Medicine and a fellow of the American
his own orchestra, a remarkably cohesive, long-
College of Physicians. He belongs to the American
lived unit that is, more than the piano, his true
Medical Association, the California and Los Angeles
instrument. The orchestra, which has played in
county medical associations, the California Society
virtually all of the world's great concert halls, rec-
of Internal Medicine, and the American Clinical and
ords on the Reprise and RCA Victor labels.
Climatology Association. His honoraries are Alpha
Jazz critic Ralph Gleason has called Ellington
Omega Alpha and Phi Kappa Phi.
"the greatest single talent
in the history of jazz",
An imposing figure, Dr. Roger O. Egeberg is six
and predicted that in the future "Duke's music will
feet four inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. He has
be studied in the schools and critics will grant him
been described as "bluff, hearty and down-to-earth"
his true place beside the great composers of this
-salty in his speech and sense of humor. His flex-
century." At a symposium on Ellington held at the
ible, commonsense approach to issues and his warm,
University of California at Berkeley in the autumn
expansive manner often win over opponents of his
of 1969, composer Gunther Schuller, president of
views. He is a Democrat and a moderate. "I used
the New England Conservatory of Music, described
to think of myself as a liberal," he said recently in
Ellington as "certainly the greatest American
a press interview, "but that term doesn't seem to de-
composer."
scribe positions like mine any more." Although he
The name Duke-an allusion to his elegant dress
voted for Hubert H. Humphrey in the 1968 election,
and aristocratic manner-was given to Ellington by
he has become "a real admirer" of President Nixon.
childhood friends. He was born Edward Kennedy
On September 5, 1929 Egeberg married Margaret
Ellington in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1899
McEchron Chahoon, whom he had met about seven
to James Edward Ellington, a blueprint maker in
years earlier at a Cornell University dance. A scien-
the Department of the Navy, and Daisy (Kennedy)
tist and researcher in her own right, she has col-
Ellington. The father moonlighted as a butler to
laborated with her husband on many technical
raise his son and his daughter, Ruth, in middle-
papers. They have three daughters, Dagny (Mrs.
class comfort, and Ellington has said that he was
William Hancock), Sarah (Mrs. Robert Beau-
"terribly spoiled" by his mother. The family was
champ), and Karen (Mrs. Richard Warmer), and a
devoutly religious. "I didn't go to one church each
son, Roger Olaf Egeberg Jr., a minister of the
Sunday," Ellington has recalled. "I went to two.
16
CURRENT BIOGRAPHY January 1970
My mother was a Baptist and my father a Method-
ist. I was raised in love, and love is the number one
aura of God."
Growing up, Ellington manifested a talent for
painting, especially for watercolor.-At Armstrong
High School in Washington he won a poster con-
test sponsored by the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and he was offered
an art scholarship by Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
But his attraction to music prevailed. Rejected by
a piano teacher when he was seven-because of his
incorrigible adventuring into off-tone chords-Elling-
ton taught himself to play on the family player
piano, using as his models ragtime "stride" pianists
he heard in and around Washington. Slowing down
the player mechanism, he learned to imitate note
by note such piano rolls as "Carolina Shout," done
by James P. Johnson. Later he did some formal
study under Henry Grant, music instructor at the
DUKE ELLINGTON
old M Street High School (now Dunbar High
School) in Washington.
After school, Ellington worked as a soda jerk,
Cook. But Ellington would not, as Cook advised,
a job that inspired his first composition, "Soda
enter a conservatory. "Many students of Elling-
Fountain Rag," which he created in 1915 by ear,
tonia," Phyl Garland observed in Ebony (July
since he did not yet know how to read or write
1969), "have considered that it was this lack of in-
music. In his senior year he quit high school and
doctrination into formal techniques that enabled him
began playing occasional gigs at night while earn-
to devise the daring innovations that came to mark
ing a steady living painting commercial signs by
his music-the strange modulations built upon lush
day. In 1918 he formed his own band-at first called
melodies that ramble into unexpected places; the
the Duke's Serenaders and later the Washington-
unorthodox construction of songs rivaled in their
ians-with Otto Hardwick on bass and saxophone,
sensitivity only by the classical compositions of the
Artie Whetsol on trumpet, and Elmer Snowden on
French impressionists; the bold use of dissonance
banjo. The following year drummer Sonny Greer
in advance of the time that has earned for him
and banjoist Sterling Conaway joined the combo,
the admiration of formal composers like Igor
which had no difficulty finding engagements at so-
Stravinsky."
ciety balls and embassy receptions in and around
Miss Garland linked Ellington's reliance on
Washington. "I would play the [Soda Fountain]
"mother-wit" in his prodigious compositional out-
Rag' as a one-step, two-step, waltz, tango, and fox
put to his limited piano technique. Referring to
trot," Ellington has recalled. "Listeners never knew
such giants of the piano as Art Tatum and Willie
it was the same piece. I was established as having
(the Lion) Smith, Ellington has said, as quoted by
my own repertory."
Miss Garland: "I never could play anything I heard
In 1922 Ellington, with Hardwick and Greer,
them play although they all tried to teach me. So
ventured to New York briefly to play in Wilbur
I had to sit down and create something that fit
Sweatman's band, and the following year the Wash-
under my fingers."
ingtonians moved permanently to Manhattan, where
The national reputation of Ellington and his
the combo acquired, over the next decade, Fred
band was established when, during a five-year en-
Guy (banjo), Bubber Miley (trumpet), Sam Nan-
gagement (1927-32) at the Cotton Club-the Har-
ton, (trombone), Harry Carney (baritone saxo-
lem cabaret popular with café society in the Pro-
phone), Rudy Jackson (clarinet), Johnny Hodges
hibition era-their performances were regularly
(alto saxophone), and Lawrence Brown (trom-
broadcast over the CBS radio network. During in-
bone). (Carney, Hodges, and Brown are still with
terruptions in the Cotton Club booking, the Elling-
the orchestra.) After opening at Barron's nightclub
tonians toured the RKO vaudeville circuit, played
in Harlem, the group moved to the Kentucky Club
in Flo Ziegfeld's Broadway revue Show Girl (1929),
in midtown. As the Kentucky Club Orchestra it
and performed in the two-reel movie Black and
recorded such Ellington compositions as "Black
Tan (RKO, 1929) and the Amos 'n Andy feature
and Tan Fantasy" and "East Saint Louis Toodle-
film Check and Double Check (RKO, 1930).
00." While at the Kentucky Club, Ellington wrote
Through such recordings as "Rockin" in Rhythm,"
his first revue score, for Chocolate Kiddies, which
and "It Don't Mean a Thing," Ellington became
ran in Germany for two years (1924-26) but never
almost as well known in Europe as in the United
reached Broadway.
States. The band toured Europe in 1933 and again
The style of Ellington the composer-who has
in 1939. On the second tour it played such
always written with his own sidemen, particularly
Ellington numbers as "Harmony in Harlem," and
the soloists, in mind-matured during the 1920's,
"Riding a Blue Note" before full, enthusiastic
partly in interaction with his expanding band and
houses in France, the Netherlands, Norway, Swe-
partly under the informal guidance of the older
den, and Denmark. In Hollywood in the middle
black composers Will Vodery and Will Marion
and late 1930's it appeared in the films She Got Her
CURRENT BIOGRAPHY January 1970
17
my music to fit the performer to be impressed by
some observers. He stopped drinking alcoholic
accidental music. You can't take doodling serious-
beverages several years ago, is never without a
ly." The musician said that he was currently writ-
supply of pills and vitamins, and tries to get nine
ing an opera, tentatively titled "Queenie Pie,"
or ten hours sleep a day. His waking hours are sel-
about a wealthy Harlem lady, a manufacturer of
dom spent on anything but his music. "I just don't
beauty products, who keeps a succession of young
have time to be a social cat," he has remarked. Still
men. In October 1969 Ellington, at the request of
interested in painting, he is, he says, "always buying
President Nixon and under the partial sponsorship
material and making plans, but the paints just sit
of the United States Travel Service, embarked with
around and collect dust."
his band on a round-the-world goodwill tour.
"Take the 'A' Train," one of the staples in the
References
Ellington band's repertoire, was composed not by
Ebony 24:29+ Jl '69 pors
Ellington himself but by Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's
NY Sunday News S p38 Ag 17 '69 por
chief arranger and associate composer, from 1939
N Y Times Mag p64+ S 12 '65 pors
until his death in 1967. As John S. Wilson observed
Reader's Digest 95:108+ N '69 por
in the New York Times (June 25, 1967), Strayhorn
Show 4:71+ Jl-Ag '64 pors
was Ellington's "musical alter ego to such an extent
Washington (D.C.) Post mag p10+ My 20
11
that neither man, in retrospect, could be sure who
'62 pors
wrote what part of anything they had worked on
Biographical Encyclopaedia & Who's Who
together." Thomas L. Whaley now assists Ellington
of the American Theatre (1966)
in arranging.
Who's Who in America, 1968-69
Ellington wrote the incidental music for the 1963
Stratford (Ontario) Shakespeare Festival produc-
tion of Timon of Athens; the score for the musical
FLANDERS, MICHAEL
comedy Sugar City, and the incidental music for
the films Anatomy of a Murder (Columbia, 1959),
Mar. 1, 1922- English comedian; actor; writer;
Paris Blues (United Artists, 1961), and Assault on
song lyricist
a Queen (Paramount, 1966). For the Paris Blues
Address: h. 57 Campbell Court, Queens Gate
score he was nominated for an Academy Award.
Gardens, London, S.W.7, England
A Billy Strayhorn memorial album cut by the
Ellington band for RCA Victor, And His Mother
For over a decade the team of Michael Flanders
Called Him Bill, was chosen "the best performance
and Donald Swann has been delighting audiences
by a large group" by the National Academy of
throughout the world with their literate and witty
Recording Arts and Sciences in 1968. For their
song revues, At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop
recordings the Ellingtonians have also garnered
of Another Hat. Their act, which developed out of
numerous Grammy awards, and Ellington has won
impromptu entertainment for friends at parties,
first place or top rank repeatedly in polls or
consists solely of patter by Flanders and their un-
selections made by the magazines Esquire, Down
usual songs, with lyrics by Flanders on such un-
Beat, and Playboy. In 1966 the Republic of Togo
likely subjects as the gnu, the armadillo, and the
issued a postage stamp honoring Ellington. His
Second Law of Thermodynamics.
other honors include the Bronze Medal of the City
Much of the duo's success can be explained by
of New York, the N.A.A.C.P.'s Spingarn Medal,
the contrast between the urbane and professional
and the Presidential Medal of Honor, bestowed
Flanders, who always keeps his cool, and the en-
upon him by President Nixon at a party at the
thusiastic amateur Swann, who seems foolish and
White House on the occasion of Ellington's seven-
frenzied. "There is something of Belch and Ague-
tieth birthday.
cheek in the relationship they choose to present,"
A tall man, Duke Ellington is distinguished in
wrote Gareth Lloyd Evans of the Guardian (Sep-
bearing, urbane and gracious in manner, and serene
tember
11,
1963.
Two faces of comedy are
in disposition. Having few intimates, he generally
here-the one rich, gusty and irreverent, the other
keeps his own counsel, and even when he has to
pinched, wry, and regretfully foolish." Flanders'
criticize his sidemen during a session he does so
somewhat Gilbertian lyrics frequently poke fun at
obliquely (and effectively). He is permissive
the attitudes and customs of the British middle
toward his men, but always in control when the
class. He pretends not to notice his terrible rhymes
music begins. By a short-lived marriage to Edna
and outrageous puns and keeps a straight face
Thompson, contracted in 1918, Ellington has a son,
while translating "La Belle Dame sans Merci" as
Mercer, who is a trumpeter and road manager with
"the beautiful girl who never says thank you." Nor
his father's band. Ellington's sister, Ruth, runs the
does he lose his composure when delivering such
music publishing company he owns, Tempo Music.
lines as "If God had intended us to fly he would
His granddaughter, Mercedes, is a dancer who has
never have given us railways." Many who have
performed often in network television productions.
not seen Flanders and Swann in person have
According to Nat Hentoff in Show (August
watched their act on television or have heard their
1964), Ellington tends to be "superstitious." By
two recordings, issued on the Angel label in 1959
philosophy and temperament the musician is a non-
and 1963 respectively.
worrier who diverts negative emotions into energy
Aside from his Hat involvement, Flanders has
for his work. But he is solicitous about his health
been a script writer and a familiar personality in
almost to the point of hypochondria, according to
British radio and television for some twenty years,
CURRENT BIOGRAPHY January 1970
19