Representative Albums: "Digital Duke," "Only God Can Make a Tree," "Hot and Bothered"
Biography
Mercer Ellington had the impossible task of trying to escape from his father Duke Ellington's shadow and he never really succeeded, perhaps not trying hard enough. He studied music early on and made several attempts to lead his own band (1939, 1946-1949, and 1959) that were all ultimately unsuccessful. During the ASCAP strike of the early '40s when Duke was desperate for new material, Mercer wrote several notable songs, including "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," "Jumpin' Punkins," "Moon Mist," and "Blue Serge," but nothing he composed since then approached their stature. Among his many other jobs was working as road manager for Cootie Williams' Orchestra, musical director for Della Reese, a salesman, a record company executive, and a disc jockey. Finally in 1965, he gave up trying to be independent and became Duke Ellington's road manager and a non-soloing section trumpeter. After Duke's death in 1974, Mercer took over the band but within a couple years it had greatly declined. Mercer wrote a biography in 1978 (Duke Ellington in Person), directed the so-so musical Sophisticated Ladies (1981-1983), supervised the release of many previously unavailable Ellington recordings and led the inaccurately titled Duke Ellington Orchestra on an occasional basis, recording a few dates that often had all-stars as ringers. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Ellington was born in Washington, DC, the son of famous composer, pianist, and bandleaderDuke Ellington. By the age of eighteen he had written his first piece to be recorded by his father ("Pigeons and Peppers").
He composed for his father from 1940 to 1941, worked as road manager for Cootie Williams' orchestra (1941 to 1943 and again in 1954), and returned to work for his father playing E-flat horn in 1950, and then as general manager and copyist from 1955 to 1959. In 1960 he became Della Reese's musical director, then in 1962 went on take a job as a radio DJ in New York for three years. In 1965 he again returned to his father's orchestra, this time as trumpeter and road manager.
When his father died in 1974, Ellington took over the orchestra, taking it on tour to Europe in 1975 and 1977 (his own son, Edward Ellington, played in the band in the late 1970s, and his other son, Paul Ellington, took it over at a later date). In the early 1980s he became the first conductor for a Broadway musical of his father's music, Sophisticated Ladies. Before his death the Duke Ellington Orchestra included Barrie Lee Hall, Rocky White, Tommy James, Gregory Charles Royal , J.J. Wiggins, and Shelly Carrol among others. Mercer Ellington performed up to the day of his passing.
Ellington died of a heart attack a month short of his seventy-seventh birthday.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra still runs today under the Direction of Paul Ellington, who also controls the Estate of Mercer & Duke Ellington. [1]
Discography as leader
1958: Black and Tan Fantasy
1958: Steppin' into Swing Society
1959: Colors in Rhythm
1974: Continuum
1984: Hot and Bothered
1987: Digital Duke (reached number three on the Billboard Top Jazz Album chart)
1989: Music Is My Mistress
1992: Take the Holiday Train
1996: Only God Can Make a Tree
Sources and external links
Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. ISBN 1-85828-528-3
Mercer Ellington — brief biography by Scott Yanow, for Allmusic.
