Editing Duke Ellington (section)

===Tributes===
After Duke died, his son Mercer took over leadership of the orchestra, continuing until he died in 1996. Like the [[Count Basie Orchestra]], this "ghost band" continued to release albums for many years. ''[[Digital Duke]]'', credited to The Duke Ellington Orchestra, won the 1988 [[Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album]]. Mercer Ellington had been handling all administrative aspects of his father's business for several decades. Mercer's children continue a connection with their grandfather's work.

[[Gunther Schuller]] wrote in 1989:

<blockquote>Ellington composed incessantly to the very last days of his life. Music was indeed his mistress; it was his total life and his commitment to it was incomparable and unalterable. In jazz he was a giant among giants. And in twentieth century music, he may yet one day be recognized as one of the half-dozen greatest masters of our time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schuller|first=Gunther|title=The Swing Era|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=019504312X}}</ref>{{rp|157}}</blockquote>

[[Martin Williams (writer)|Martin Williams]] said: "Duke Ellington lived long enough to hear himself named among our best composers. And since his death in 1974, it has become not at all uncommon to see him named, along with [[Charles Ives]], as the greatest composer we have produced, regardless of category."<ref>Martin Williams, liner notes, ''Duke Ellington's Symphony in Black'', The Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble conducted by [[Gunther Schuller]], The [[Smithsonian]] Collections recording, 1980.</ref>

In the opinion of Bob Blumenthal of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' in 1999: "[i]n the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington."<ref>''Boston Globe'', April 25, 1999.</ref>

In 2002, scholar [[Molefi Kete Asante]] listed Duke Ellington on his list of [[100 Greatest African Americans]].<ref>Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). ''100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|1573929638}}.</ref>

[[File:Duke Ellington star HWF.JPG|thumb|right|Star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6535 Hollywood Blvd.]]
His compositions have been revisited by artists and musicians worldwide as sources of inspiration and a bedrock of their performing careers:
* [[Dave Brubeck]] dedicated "The Duke" (1954) to Ellington and it became a standard covered by others,<ref>{{cite web
 | url = {{AllMusic|class=song|id=t933027|pure_url=yes}}
 | title = 'The Duke' by Dave Brubeck: song review, recordings, covers
 |website=AllMusic
 | access-date =March 21, 2007}}</ref> including [[Miles Davis]] on his ''[[Miles Ahead (album)|Miles Ahead]]'', 1957. The album ''[[The Real Ambassadors]]'' has a vocal version of this piece, "You Swing Baby (The Duke)", with lyrics by Iola Brubeck, Dave Brubeck's wife. It is performed as a duet between [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Carmen McRae]]. It is also dedicated to Duke Ellington.
* [[Miles Davis]] created his half-hour [[dirge]] "He Loved Him Madly" (on ''[[Get Up with It]]'') as a tribute to Ellington one month after his death.
* [[Charles Mingus]], who had been fired by Ellington decades earlier, wrote the elegy "Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love" in 1974, a few months after Ellington's death.
* [[Stevie Wonder]] wrote the song "[[Sir Duke]]" as a tribute to Ellington, which appeared on his album ''[[Songs in the Key of Life]]'' released in 1976.

There are hundreds of albums dedicated to the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn by artists famous and obscure. ''[[Sophisticated Ladies]]'', an award-winning 1981 musical revue, incorporated many tunes from Ellington's repertoire. A second Broadway musical interpolating Ellington's music, ''[[Play On (musical)|Play On!]]'', debuted in 1997.