Rude Interlude -- a Duke Ellington home page
Duke Ellington... composer, bandleader, piano player.
A pioneer, an innovator and an inspiration to generations, Duke Ellington personified elegance and sophistication. More importantly, he was a workaholic creative genius who never stopped exploring new dimensions of his musical world.
Rude Interlude is dedicated to the memory and musical legacy of Edward Kennedy Ellington -- Duke -- with the hope that it will be useful to students, fans, and others with an interest in Ellington.

Rude Interlude Departments:
	Ellington Biography -- by Mark Tucker, from The Duke Ellington Reader. (New for the Duke Ellington centenary, April 29, 1999)
	"I Live With Music" -- an essay on Duke.
	Duke on Disc -- a listening list of more than 100 Ellington recordings on CD, with a brief description of each.
	about "Beyond Category" -- the Smithsonian's traveling Duke Ellington exhibition.
	Album Gallery -- A list of all cover art used to illustrate Rude Interlude.
	Searching for Duke -- Search the Web or Usenet news groups for Ellington references or try a few Ellington links I've collected.
	A Personal Note -- Ellington's music and memories of my daughter Amanda.

Other Important Ellington sites:
	The Edward Kennedy Ellington Pages -- Your complete guide to Ellingtonia on the Web, a wealth of links collected and organized by David Smith.
	The Ellington-Strayhorn Songbook -- information on more than a thousand of the compositions by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Mercer Ellington, with discographical information. A meticulous labor of love, created by Yoshioka Toshiya.
	A Duke Ellington Panorama -- A growing resource with emphasis on discography, put together by Peter MacHare. Also has info about the Duke Ellington Society and the Duke - LYM mailing list.
	The Duke Ellington Society of New York -- Drawing upon extensive organizational resources, this new site offers a comprehensive view of Ellington, his work, and many of his associates.

When we speak of Duke Ellington's vast body of work, we are really speaking of the product of a collaborative process of creation, which Ellington shared over the decades with many of his musicians, and especially with Billy Strayhorn. Every one of those individuals is a part of the musical legend and the legacy we refer to as Duke Ellington. Without any one of them, that body of work would be different; without Strayhorn it would be vastly different and missing some crucial pieces. But without them all, there would still be Ellington himself and his undeniable urge to create, and there would still be an Ellington body of work, different but distinctive and personal. He was the prime mover and the focus of all the creative energy. He did not just give his name to a musical sound, he shaped it and defined it and caused it to happen.

Rude Interlude honors Edward Kennedy Ellington as well as the many men and women who helped him to create what we know as the musical legacy of Duke Ellington.

Rude Interlude (including subsidiary pages) is a non-commercial project, intended as an educational resource. I believe all images reproduced on these pages are covered by the principles of Fair Use. However, I also have attempted to verify that all images are available for use in this manner, and to the best of my knowledge, this is true. Anyone who has reason to believe that any of the images on these pages should not be reproduced here is urged to contact me immediately.