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More than any other musician in the early twentieth century, Duke Ellington brought jazz into nightclubs and later into the living rooms of America. The music he played sprang in part from the blues and gospel rhythms of the plantation slaves living in the mid-nineteenth century, infused with the sounds of ragtime from the turn of the century. Jazz has been called the first musical form created in the United States. It was a type of sharp improvisation for which band members played anything they wanted along a chosen key or set of chords, so every night the music was different. Duke led with his piano playing, but he allowed various other members of his band to shine, too. Embracing new technologies such as radio receivers and record players, Duke Ellington was an early pop star.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, John Bankston began writing professionally while still a teenager. Since then, over two hundred of his articles have been published in magazines and newspapers across the country, including travel articles in The Tallahassee Democrat, The Orlando Sentinel and The Tallahassean. He is the author of over 175 books for young adults, including works on Alexander the Great, scientist Stephen Hawking, actor Jodi Foster, and authors including Katherine Paterson, Ray Bradbury and F. Scott Fitzgerald. His young adult trilogy, The Academy, was published in August. He lives in Huntington Beach, California with his rescue dog.
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