Jazz is full of pioneers. Perhaps the biggest such pioneer is Duke Ellington. A band leader and composer Duke Ellington is the most produced jazz musician of all time.

Ellington wasn’t just a jazz player. He was able to meld jazz and orchestra music, creating what we know today as Big Band. It was really the work of Ellington that caused the proliferation of horns and bass and other orchestral instruments into jazz. Following the decline of Big Band and jazz, Ellington took to other pursuits including his Sacred Concerts which is a jazz Christian liturgy.

It’s nearly impossible to look at any jazz music after Ellington and not find his influence.

Day 9’s song that inspires me is a Duke Ellington classic “It Don’t Mean A Thing”