MERCER ELLINGTON, 76; CONDUCTOR
{ Published in The Record, Hackensack, NJ - Friday, February 9, 1996}
Mercer Ellington, a trumpet player, arranger, composer and conductor who had led the Duke Ellington Orchestra since his father's death in 1974, died Thursday in Denmark. He was 76.
Mr. Ellington's daughter, Mercedes, said her father died of heart failure in a Copenhagen hospital.
The only child of Edward Kennedy "Duke" and Edna Ellington, Mr. Ellington studied at Columbia University and the Julliard School.
Before taking over his father's orchestra, Mr. Ellington led small groups including a band that featured Carmen McRae as vocalist. She made her recording debut with that band. He also worked as a salesman, disc jockey, and record company executive.
Mr. Ellington worked on and off as trumpeter and band manager with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He took over in 1974, when his father died.
One evening, his father told him that the band needed a new tune to record the next day. That night, he wrote "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and presented it at a recording session the next morning.
He also helped his father compose "Three Black Kings" in a hospital during the last five months of Duke Ellington's life.
Other compositions include "Blue Serge," "Moon Mist," "The Girl in My Dreams," "John Hardy's Wife," and "Jumpin' Punkins."
He was music director and conductor of "Sophisticated Ladies," a music and dance revue of Duke Ellington's music, from 1981 to 1983. He also conducted his father's only opera, "Queenie Pie," in Philadelphia and at Kennedy Center in Washington.
Mr. Ellington received a Grammy Award in 1988, in the big band jazz instrumental performance category, for "Digital Duke."
He wrote a biography of his father in 1978, "Duke Ellington in Person."
He lived in Copenhagen and New York. He is survived by his wife and four children.
{ Published in The Record, Hackensack, NJ - Friday, February 9, 1996}
Mercer Ellington, a trumpet player, arranger, composer and conductor who had led the Duke Ellington Orchestra since his father's death in 1974, died Thursday in Denmark. He was 76.
Mr. Ellington's daughter, Mercedes, said her father died of heart failure in a Copenhagen hospital.
The only child of Edward Kennedy "Duke" and Edna Ellington, Mr. Ellington studied at Columbia University and the Julliard School.
Before taking over his father's orchestra, Mr. Ellington led small groups including a band that featured Carmen McRae as vocalist. She made her recording debut with that band. He also worked as a salesman, disc jockey, and record company executive.
Mr. Ellington worked on and off as trumpeter and band manager with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He took over in 1974, when his father died.
One evening, his father told him that the band needed a new tune to record the next day. That night, he wrote "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and presented it at a recording session the next morning.
He also helped his father compose "Three Black Kings" in a hospital during the last five months of Duke Ellington's life.
Other compositions include "Blue Serge," "Moon Mist," "The Girl in My Dreams," "John Hardy's Wife," and "Jumpin' Punkins."
He was music director and conductor of "Sophisticated Ladies," a music and dance revue of Duke Ellington's music, from 1981 to 1983. He also conducted his father's only opera, "Queenie Pie," in Philadelphia and at Kennedy Center in Washington.
Mr. Ellington received a Grammy Award in 1988, in the big band jazz instrumental performance category, for "Digital Duke."
He wrote a biography of his father in 1978, "Duke Ellington in Person."
He lived in Copenhagen and New York. He is survived by his wife and four children.
MERCER ELLINGTON, 76; CONDUCTOR
{ Published in The Record, Hackensack, NJ - Friday, February 9, 1996}
Mercer Ellington, a trumpet player, arranger, composer and conductor who had led the Duke Ellington Orchestra since his father's death in 1974, died Thursday in Denmark. He was 76.
Mr. Ellington's daughter, Mercedes, said her father died of heart failure in a Copenhagen hospital.
The only child of Edward Kennedy "Duke" and Edna Ellington, Mr. Ellington studied at Columbia University and the Julliard School.
Before taking over his father's orchestra, Mr. Ellington led small groups including a band that featured Carmen McRae as vocalist. She made her recording debut with that band. He also worked as a salesman, disc jockey, and record company executive.
Mr. Ellington worked on and off as trumpeter and band manager with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He took over in 1974, when his father died.
One evening, his father told him that the band needed a new tune to record the next day. That night, he wrote "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and presented it at a recording session the next morning.
He also helped his father compose "Three Black Kings" in a hospital during the last five months of Duke Ellington's life.
Other compositions include "Blue Serge," "Moon Mist," "The Girl in My Dreams," "John Hardy's Wife," and "Jumpin' Punkins."
He was music director and conductor of "Sophisticated Ladies," a music and dance revue of Duke Ellington's music, from 1981 to 1983. He also conducted his father's only opera, "Queenie Pie," in Philadelphia and at Kennedy Center in Washington.
Mr. Ellington received a Grammy Award in 1988, in the big band jazz instrumental performance category, for "Digital Duke."
He wrote a biography of his father in 1978, "Duke Ellington in Person."
He lived in Copenhagen and New York. He is survived by his wife and four children.
{ Published in The Record, Hackensack, NJ - Friday, February 9, 1996}
Mercer Ellington, a trumpet player, arranger, composer and conductor who had led the Duke Ellington Orchestra since his father's death in 1974, died Thursday in Denmark. He was 76.
Mr. Ellington's daughter, Mercedes, said her father died of heart failure in a Copenhagen hospital.
The only child of Edward Kennedy "Duke" and Edna Ellington, Mr. Ellington studied at Columbia University and the Julliard School.
Before taking over his father's orchestra, Mr. Ellington led small groups including a band that featured Carmen McRae as vocalist. She made her recording debut with that band. He also worked as a salesman, disc jockey, and record company executive.
Mr. Ellington worked on and off as trumpeter and band manager with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He took over in 1974, when his father died.
One evening, his father told him that the band needed a new tune to record the next day. That night, he wrote "Things Ain't What They Used To Be" and presented it at a recording session the next morning.
He also helped his father compose "Three Black Kings" in a hospital during the last five months of Duke Ellington's life.
Other compositions include "Blue Serge," "Moon Mist," "The Girl in My Dreams," "John Hardy's Wife," and "Jumpin' Punkins."
He was music director and conductor of "Sophisticated Ladies," a music and dance revue of Duke Ellington's music, from 1981 to 1983. He also conducted his father's only opera, "Queenie Pie," in Philadelphia and at Kennedy Center in Washington.
Mr. Ellington received a Grammy Award in 1988, in the big band jazz instrumental performance category, for "Digital Duke."
He wrote a biography of his father in 1978, "Duke Ellington in Person."
He lived in Copenhagen and New York. He is survived by his wife and four children.
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