Mercer Ellington
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 /TiVo
Discography
6 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Digital Duke
Mercer Ellington, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by GRP on 1 jan. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Continuum
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Mercer Ellington
Jazz - Released by Fantasy Records on 1 jan. 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music is My Mistress
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Mercer Ellington
Jazz - Released by Jazz Heritage Society on 1 jan. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Jazz Masters
Jazz - Released by Vintage Masters Inc. on 1 okt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harlem Throwbacks
Mercer Ellington, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Squatty Roo Records on 31 jul. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stepping Into Swing Society
Jazz - Released by Rarity Music on 29 jun. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo