When did Duke Ellington play at the Cotton Club?

When did Duke Ellington play at the Cotton Club?

1927
From 1927 to 1931, the band played at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem and was joined by more key players—clarinetist Barney Bigard, saxophonist Johnny Hodges, and trumpeter Cootie Williams. Ellington wrote a great deal of music for the band, including one of his most famous pieces, Mood Indigo (1930).

Who performed at the Cotton Club in Harlem?

The Cotton Club was Harlem’s premier nightclub in the 1920s and 1930s. The club featured many of the greatest African American entertainers of the era, including Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and Ethel Waters.

When Duke Ellington left the Cotton Club and took his band on the road which band replaced him at the Cotton Club?

Cab Calloway’s orchestra brought its “Brown Sugar” revue to the club in 1930, replacing Ellington’s orchestra after its departure in 1931. Lena Horne began at the Cotton Club as a chorus girl at the age of sixteen and sang “Sweeter than Sweet” with Calloway.

How long did Duke played with his band at the Cotton Club?

Duke Ellington: Ellington’s ensemble Extended residencies at the Cotton Club in Harlem (1927–32, 1937–38) stimulated Ellington to enlarge……

Why is the Cotton Club called the Cotton Club?

Owney Madden, a prominent bootlegger and gangster, took over the club after his release from Sing Sing in 1923 and changed its name to the Cotton Club. The two arranged a deal that allowed Johnson to remain the club’s manager. Madden “used the cotton club as an outlet to sell his #1 beer to the prohibition crowd”.

Why is it called the Cotton Club?

Owney Madden, who bought the club from heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, intended the name Cotton Club to appeal to whites, the only clientele permitted until 1928. The club made its name by featuring top-level black performers and an upscale, downtown audience.

What was Duke Ellington’s Cotton Club?

Ellington’s orchestra began its four-year residency at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club in 1927, providing music for sumptuous stage routines in which exotically dressed black dancers performed for an exclusively white audience.

What club did Duke Ellington Open at in Harlem?

Duke Ellington opened at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In 1923, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington first began to make his mark in New York with his band The Washingtonians, which took its name from his home city. He soon assembled a remarkable corpus of talented instrumentalists,…

Where did Duke Ellington start his career?

After a few months they returned to Washington, but by 1923, Ellington was making a name for himself in Harlem as well as New York City. In 1927, his band was offered a contract at the Cotton Club and Duke Ellington was the toast of the town and his weekly radio show introduced him and his music to the entire country.

Who was the house band at the Cotton Club in 1927?

The revues featured dancers, singers, comedians, and variety acts, as well as a house band. These revues helped launch the careers of many artists, including Fletcher Henderson, who led the Cotton Club’s first house band in 1923. Duke Ellington’s orchestra was the house band from December 4, 1927 until June 30, 1931.

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