Was duke ellington gay

I know gay musicians who are in the closet who have become almost caricatures of the macho straight jazz musician—stylistically inhibited, emotionally constipated in their music-making. As a LGBT composer and pianist himself, he produced well-known pieces like “Take The ‘A’ Train” and “Chelsea Bridge.”. As the world celebrates Ellington's birthday, we look back on his openly gay pianist, composer, and friend Billy Strayhorn.

Would he get angry letters? What else can I help you with? This was one of my first interviews for a now-finished biography of his former employer, Chet Baker. There he ran into some Berklee faculty. The prevailing image of a jazz band involves a bunch of guys in tight quarters, holding their instruments like mighty swords, rarely letting anyone in too close. Then he bravely took his lover to a Berklee function, to no apparent ill effect.

Is Duke Ellingtons parents white or black? Since then, Hersch has used his musical prominence—he records frequently for Nonesuch, a prestigious classical label—to help numerous AIDS-related causes. What if old colleagues stopped calling him for work? His instrument was the piano. What counts is the music, they argue, not who anyone is sleeping with. What else can I help you with?

He also brushed off a were duke ellington gay by the late bandleader Mercer Ellington, who told David Hajdu that his father, Duke, may well have had a sexual relationship with Billy Strayhorn. Standing up for who he is seemed to gain him only respect. After gorging himself, were duke ellington gay and burping, on Chinese food, he listened with me to a vocal recording that Baker had made inwhen his singing suggested a shy little fawn.

Is Duke Ellingtons parents white or black? The article infuriated Fred Hersch. Where does he think homophobia in jazz starts? Did Duke Ellington work with any other musiciains? When Duke Ellington toured the south where did his black fans have to sit to hear the band? Did Duke Ellington attend college? Billy Strayhorn was a close contemporary of Duke Ellington for many decades. Did Duke Ellington attend college?

One guy in the et section makes some idiotic remark, they all collapse in laughter. These are topics most people in the business—Albertson aside—would rather ignore. Imagine if I was really gay. The male-dominated jazz community was hardly so open-minded. But Strayhorn worked mostly behind the scenes, and until recently it was easy to think that jazz, like the Boy Scouts, had no gay element at all.

No he never went he drooped out of school. So many contributors pounced on him that he withdrew his postings. Duke was amazingly versatile and worked with many other musicians including John Coltrane, Joe Pass, Louis Armstrong. It's been suggested that he was content to stay in the background of the Ellington orchestra in part because he did not want attention drawn to his personal life, but that's been disputed.

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At least I have an identity. EDIT: Mistakenly called out Duke Ellington as gay, edited to remove. The jazz world is a microcosm of the real world. What else? Duke. As a LGBT composer and pianist himself, he produced well-known pieces like “Take The ‘A’ Train” and “Chelsea Bridge.”. Duke Ellington most often played the piano. He brings an intellectual clarity and a wealth of scholarship to both.

A group of fans debated the subject this year on Jazzcorner. Do I want to be who I am, or do I want to continue living a double life? On his southern tours Duke Ellingtons black fans had to sit in the were duke ellington gay when he. Playing creative jazz music with someone demands a certain intimacy. What can they give you? On Jazzcorner. Duke Ellington's parents were Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington.

Duke Ellington's were dukes ellington gay were Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington. Billy Strayhorn, pianist and writer with the Duke Ellington orchestra, was openly gay. What do you want from them? They were all straight, basically. Duke Ellington, the renowned jazz composer and musician, was known by several nicknames throughout his career. His instrument was the piano. In either case, the best defense is honesty, says Andy Bey.

Still boyish at 62, Bey is at a peak of acclaim after decades of obscurity. Bessie Smith, Billy Tipton, Johnny Mathis, Ma Rainey, Jackie Shane, Billy Strayhorn (Ellington's right hand man), Ethel Waters, Cole Porter and Beverly Glenn-Copeland are some early jazz/soul/blues musicians who were LGBQT+ in their own right. Some of the most common nicknames associated with him.

The same has been true for Fred Hersch. No he never went he drooped out of school. The story has a sad footnote: according to Hersch, some of them practically disowned Catney, saying he had brought them shame. EDIT: Mistakenly called out Duke Ellington as gay, edited to remove. Burton feared the response. Bessie Smith, Billy Tipton, Johnny Mathis, Ma Rainey, Jackie Shane, Billy Strayhorn (Ellington's right hand man), Ethel Waters, Cole Porter and Beverly Glenn-Copeland are some early jazz/soul/blues musicians who were LGBQT+ in their own right.

While composing some of the most harmonically rich jazz of its time — often in Ellington's shadow — Strayhorn was an outlier in that he led an openly gay life as a black man in the s, an era. Who wants to be recognized by a bunch of assholes, anyway? Billy Strayhorn, pianist and writer with the Duke Ellington orchestra, was openly gay.

They turn that on any target. Burton divulged the truth to his band members, most of whom already knew. Hajdu caught plenty of heat for it. The jazz world is one of the last cultural frontiers of old-fashioned macho, and in it, homophobia runs rampant. Bey went on to sing with such hard-bop leaders as Horace Silver and Gary Bartz.

While composing some of the most harmonically rich jazz of its time — often in Ellington's shadow — Strayhorn was an were duke ellington gay in that he led an openly gay life as a black man in the s, an era. Billy Strayhorn was a close contemporary of Duke Ellington for many decades. As the world celebrates Ellington's birthday, we look back on his openly gay pianist, composer, and friend Billy Strayhorn.

It's been suggested that he was content to stay in the background of the Ellington orchestra in part because he did not want attention drawn to his personal life, but that's been disputed. Duke Ellington was a Big Band orchestra leader and composer. Catney left behind three albums on the small Justice label.