Mercer Ellington(1919-1996)
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer ("Things Ain't What They Used to Be"), trumpeter, conductor,
and arranger, educated at Juilliard, New York University, and Columbia
University. He formed his own band in 1939, and served in the US Army
during World War II, then led his band until 1949. By 1954 he was the
road manager and trumpeter for the Cootie Williams orchestra, and then
general assistant to his father Duke Ellington from 1955 to 1959. He
organized a recording orchestra and made many records, and found time
to be a radio commentator for WLIB in New York. Joining ASCAP in 1957,
his chief musical collaborator was his father, and his other
popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Blue Serge", "Moon
Mist", "Jumpin' Pumpkins", "The Girl in My Dreams", and "John Hardy's
Wife".
