News archive 2008

Honouring jazz icon

13 Nov 2008, PR 239/08

The music and career of Duke Ellington will be highlighted in this year’s London Jazz Festival. As a prelude to this, King’s lecturer Dr Harvey G Cohen has written the cover story for today’s Art’s section of The Independent on this musical legend.

Dr Cohen of the King’s Centre for Cultural, Media and Creative Industries Research, has written and researched extensively on Duke Ellington, including a forthcoming book Duke Ellington’s America (University of Chicago Press, 2009).

The Independent two-page feature describes how 75 years ago, Duke Ellington’s tour of Britain changed the face of music and paved the way for Beatlemania. (Dawn of the jazz age: Sir Duke Ellington's adventures in Britain)

In the article Dr Cohen assesses Ellington’s significance and inspiration and the way in which his music represented a turning point in music history, recalling the enthusiastic reception to his band by British audiences. He also points out the resistance and racism that Ellington also encountered.

The Independent website includes a series of photos looking at Ellington’s career.

Legendary career

Dr Cohen comments: ‘Over the decades, several writers have tackled the career of Duke Ellington from a musical perspective, but when I went through his personal and business papers at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, I realised that much of the story behind Ellington’s legendary career had not been told. My book, and this article in today’s Independent, demonstrates that Ellington was a significant figure in American history as well as in American music.’

Dr Cohen will take part in a panel discussion on Ellington’s life and work next week at the South Bank Centre as part of the London Jazz Festival. Multi-award winner Alan Barnes, one of Britain’s most renowned and well-loved saxophonists, will perform a concert of his work following the discussion.

The event will take place on Monday 17 November beginning at 18.00 followed by the concert at 19.45 in the Purcell Room, (http://www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk/)

Notes to editors

Centre for Cultural, Media and Creative Industries Research
The cultural and creative industries are increasingly being recognised as vital assets in national and regional economies. The Centre, based in the School of Humanities offers an MA programme in Cultural & Creative Industries and PhD research opportunities in Culture, Media and Creative Industries. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/cci/

Dr Cohen’s teaching has focused on the business issues facing cultural industries, the multi-media and historical aspects of the Harlem Renaissance, and the cultural history of New York City. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/cci/staff/cohen.html

King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 150 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of approximately £450 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – a total unsurpassed by any other university.

Further information

Melanie Gardner, Senior Public Relations Officer,
Public Relations Department, King’s College London.
Tel: 020 7848 3073; email melanie.gardner@kcl.ac.uk



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