The Duke's Day

The Duke Ellington Jazz Society would be just another fan club if any one else were its hero. But the Duke exudes the kind of grandeur that makes a simple fan feel like a servant of history, and the society's members cheerfully devote themselves to such quiet works as assembling the world's greatest archive of Ellingtonia. Such attention suggests that the Duke has become a precious cultural heritage, but the honor has not begun to slow him down. As he has been for most of the past 40 years, the Duke continues to be the busiest man in jazz.

Ellington and his 15-piece orchestra began a blitzkrieg visit to California last week. After five days' residence at Disneyland and another few days of concerts around the state, the boys will strike out for a three-week tour of Japan--their first overseas venture since they came home from a six-week European tour in March. In the past 100 days, the Duke has given 25 concerts, made an LP, and taped four television shows, all while working on a new musical called Sugar City that is scheduled for Broadway this fall.

A debonair, autumnal 65, the Duke still thrives on 20-hour days that begin at noon and end at dawn after a night of composition at the piano. He keeps up his composing regimen even on tour, and many recent additions to his enormous output are directly inspired by his travels. The bridge between his early Bird of Paradise and his recent Little African Flower spans more than 1,000 compositions, among them such triumphs as Mood Indigo, Solitude and Black, Brown and Beige--and though his form has expanded radically, his substance has never drifted far from jazz. "Le jazz, c'est moi," the Duke seems to say, and students of his music can hardly help but agree.

Sometimes the Duke descends to dismayingly unctuous moments on the bandstand; "I love you madly," he will coo, "and the fellows love you madly too." But such lapses do not deter the musician from his work. When 500 fans gathered at Columbia University last month for the Ellington Society's annual tribute to the maestro, the Duke himself appeared to present the musical offering. "I will now rehearse," he said softly, and with that the aging Duke sat down at the piano for an hour of the finest Ellington anyone had heard in years.

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