Arts & Culture
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Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899—1974), the internationally renowned composer and musician born in Washington, DC, spent part of his youth at 1805 13th Street, NW, from 1910 to 1914. During those formative years he studied classical piano as well as the techniques of local ragtime pianists. He played one of his first public concerts at the True Reformer Building, 1200 U Street, NW. By his early 20s, he had his own four-piece combo, Duke's Serenaders. He was a fixture on the U Street musical scene before moving to New York in 1923 and forming Duke Ellington and the Washingtonians. A hit in Harlem, Ellington launched a recording and composing career that brought him worldwide fame.
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Washington, District of Columbia · United States
