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TDES CELEBRATES THE ELLINGTON CENTENNIAL
Continuing our series of special programs in honor of the Ellington Centennial, TDES is proud to present the first meeting in our 40-year history devoted to members of the Ellington family, entitled "The Ellington Family Remembers." Our guests will include Ruth, Mercedes, and Paul Ellington -- and, we hope, several others among jazz's royal progeny. A graduate of Columbia University, where she studied biology with intentions of a career as a physician, Ruth Ellington took executive leadership of Duke's publishing company, Tempo Music, upon its inception in 1941. As Duke wrote in Music Is My Mistress, "Ruth's upbringing and education equipped her as a gentlewoman and were not designed to develop aggressive or businesslike qualities. She operates Tempo Music as though it were a publishing house of classical music rather than of jazz...and she is more concerned with its prestige than its profitability." Mercedes Ellington studied ballet at Julliard and began her illustrious career in dance and choreography as captain of the June Taylor Dancers (popularly known for their television work with Jackie Gleason). She has performed in countless Broadway shows and was one of the major creative forces behind the hit Ellington musical Sophisticated Ladies. The youngest of Ellington's grandchildren, Paul assumed leadership of the Duke Ellington Orchestra shortly after his father's death in 1996. A pianist and composer as well, Paul contributed to Mercer's final CD, Only God Can Make A Tree. As Ellington wrote about his family, "They are all wonderful...and I love them." We trust they will return the sentiment -- and tell us all about Duke Ellington as only his family knows him. 
BOX 31 CHURCH STREET STATION, NEW YORK, NY 10008-0031 | |||||||||||||
t all started, one hundred years ago, with a family. Before the birth of Edward Kennedy Ellington on April 29, 1899,
there was a young Washington CD couple, Daisy Kennedy Ellington and James Edward Ellington. Today, three generations of Ellingtons are working passionately
to carry on the Ducal legacy. Ruth, the longtime steward of the Duke Ellington organization's vast publishing holdings.
Mercedes Ellington, daughter of Duke's only son Mercer and a performer who has been a high-profile champion of Ellingtonia for decades.
And Duke's young grandson Paul, who is bravely leading today's Duke Ellington Orchestra.