The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts celebrated Duke’s 113^th birthday with a swingin’ blast at the historic Players Club in New York City.  On stage was a twelve piece jazz orchestra directed by Frank Owens on piano with vocalists (Antoinette Montague and Marion Cowings). Right in front of the musicians, in true swing tradition were dancers who ran the spectrum –high-energy swing (The Mickey Davidson Swing Dancers)! tapping syncopations (Alexander Cowings) to ballroom grace (Michael Choi and his “peachy” partner)!! The event was hosted by ever-elegant Mercedes Ellington, Duke’s granddaughter, founder and President of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts. “Duke Ellington Week is one of the most exciting weeks of the year for me, all jazz lovers and for Duke Ellington aficionados,” Mercedes says. “With more than 3,000 compositions, Ellington was the 20^th century’s most prolific composer in both volume and variety. His fame spread worldwide and he built a fantastic career as a musician, composer, songwriter, orchestra leader and innovator of American Music that began in the 1920’s and continued non-stop until his death in 1974!  It is one of the missions of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts to support the inspiration of all people to become Ambassadors for Peace and Harmony through the magic of the Arts—one note at a time.” The evening took us on a musical journey that celebrated Duke’s legacy, from his joyful “Take the A Train” through a medley of blues and ballads, and (after a pitstop for birthday cake), roared to a climax with a soulful singalong of Duke’s jazz anthem: “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing!” Happiness/Success Habits: Do What You Love and Support the Arts! Performing, composing, and enjoying music are sources of joy! Live your passion –as an artist, and/or arts appreciator and/or arts educator! The arts are our cross-cultural glue. They reach beyond our differences and bring us together – as a multi-cultural nation and as citizens in a world community. They are an uplifting force, and many a child has risen above limited, negative circumstances on the wings of an artistic vision. The arts are our cultural legacy and vision of our future. Duke Ellington’s music is as American as grandma’s apple pie and as full of possibilities as a grandbaby’s first toddling steps. So bake it, shake it, and let freedom ring – ‘cause it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!

Susan (“Dr. Sue”) Horowitz, Ph.D.

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