The Life and Times of Duke Ellington (Masters of Music)

Duke Ellington brought jazz to America. The music he played sprang in part from the blues and gospel rhythms of the plantation slaves living in the mid-19th century, infused with the sounds of ragtime from the turn of the century. The music was a sharp improvisation for which band members played anything they wanted along a chosen key or set of chords, so the music was always different.