Consists of booking contracts and correspondence, tour receipts, personal and band bills and receipts, accounting ledgers, union dues statements, cancelled checks and bank statements, accounting records for several Ellington-owned and operated music companies, tax records and Internal Revenue Service audits, general correspondence, and miscellaneous records.
The records document Duke Ellington's career as a musician, composer, and bandleader between 1938 and 1988, and the operation of several of his and Mercer Ellington's music companies, including Tempo Music, Incorporated; Gaye Records, Incorporated, and Eighty-Eight Records, Incorporated. The records illustrate the complexities of maintaining a stable performing musical group when America's tastes in popular music were shifting away from large swing-style orchestras.
The records are organized into nine subseries: Subseries 3.1, Performance Management Records, 1941-1974; Subseries 3.2, Accounting Ledgers, 1960-1967; Subseries 3.3, Work Dues Statements, 1965-1974; Subseries 3.4, Bank Records, 1955-1974; Subseries 3.5, Tempo Music, Incorporated Records, 1961-1973; Subseries 3.6, Music Company Records, 1938-1965; Subseries 3.7, Tax Records and Internal Revenue Service Audits, 1944-1974; Subseries 3.8, General Correspondence, 1941-1988; and Subseries 3.9, Miscellaneous Records, 1966-1970.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original and master audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:
Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.
Collection Citation:
Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding partially funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
