One of Duke’s earliest compositions was the “Soda Fountain Rag”, which he played so many different ways, it was thought that it was several compositions (Gammond, 69). In retrospect, Duke Ellington’s formal music career could be split up into three distinct,masterful periods, when the fruition of his work was most evident. The first period occurred in 1923......... The second phase of Duke’s masterful career came between the late thirties and mid-forties, when Duke …showed first 75 words of 955 total…

…showed last 75 words of 955 total…from Africa and the Far East. It's no coincidence that two of Ellington's most important albums of the '60s were collaborations that found the maestro fitting in equally well with major musicians who had each incorporated some of Ellington's principles to a great degree in their own music. They were John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra, who would normally never even get into a sentence together, yet had in common their Ellington influence and experience.