Editing Duke Ellington (section)

===Early to mid-1940s===
[[File:Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club 1943.jpg|thumb|right| Ellington at the Hurricane Club, Broadway & W. 51St, New York City,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Kenneth T.|last2=Keller|first2=Lisa|last3=Flood|first3=Nancy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lI5ERUmHf3YC&pg=PT1951|title=The Encyclopedia of New York|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2010|page=1951|isbn=978-0300182576}}<!-- The printed version has 1584 pages, the reference here must be inaccurate. --></ref> May 1943]]
Two musicians who joined Ellington at this time created a sensation in their own right, [[Jimmy Blanton]] and [[Ben Webster]]. Blanton was effectively hired on the spot in late October 1939, before Ellington was aware of his name, when he dropped in on a gig of [[Fate Marable]] in St Louis.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Whitehead|first1=Kevin|last2=Bianculli|first2=David|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/10/05/654774239/a-look-back-at-how-virtuoso-jimmy-blanton-changed-the-bass-forever|title=A Look Back At How Virtuoso Jimmy Blanton Changed The Bass Forever|work=NPR|date=October 5, 2018|access-date=June 17, 2021}}</ref> The short-lived Blanton transformed the use of double bass in jazz, allowing it to function as a solo/melodic instrument rather than a rhythm instrument alone.{{sfn|page=99–100|Brothers|2018}}Terminal illness forced him to leave by late 1941 after around two years. Ben Webster's principal tenure with Ellington spanned 1939 to 1943. An ambition of his, he told his previous employer, [[Teddy Wilson]], then leading a big band, that Ellington was the only rival he would leave Wilson for.<ref name="Büchmann-Møller57">{{Harvnb|Büchmann-Møller|2006|p=57}}</ref> He was the orchestra's first regular tenor saxophonist and increased the size of the sax section to five for the first time.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schuller|1989|p=789}}</ref><ref name="Büchmann-Møller57" /> Much influenced by Johnny Hodges, he often credited Hodges with showing him "how to play my horn". The two men sat next to each other in the orchestra.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schuller|1989|p=795}}</ref>

Trumpeter [[Ray Nance]] joined, replacing [[Cootie Williams]] who had defected to [[Benny Goodman]]. Additionally, Nance added violin to the instrumental colors Ellington had at his disposal. Recordings exist of Nance's first concert date on November 7, 1940, at [[Fargo, North Dakota]]. Privately made by [[Jack Towers]] and Dick Burris, these recordings were first legitimately issued in 1978 as ''[[Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live]]''; they are among the earliest of innumerable live performances which survive. Nance was an occasional vocalist as well, although [[Herb Jeffries]] was the main male vocalist in this era (until 1943) while [[Al Hibbler]] (who replaced Jeffries in 1943) continued until 1951. Ivie Anderson left in 1942 for health reasons after 11 years, the longest term of any of Ellington's vocalists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=3424 |title=Musician Ivie Anderson (Vocal) @ All About Jazz |publisher=Musicians.allaboutjazz.com |access-date=February 2, 2013}}</ref>

Once more recording for Victor (from 1940), with the small groups being issued on their [[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]] label, three-minute masterpieces on [[Gramophone record|78 rpm record]] sides continued to flow from Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Ellington's son [[Mercer Ellington]], and members of the orchestra.{{sfn|page=121|Brothers|2018}} "[[Cotton Tail]]", "Main Stem", "[[Harlem Air Shaft]]", "Jack the Bear", and dozens of others date from this period. Strayhorn's "[[Take the "A" Train]]", a hit in 1941, became the band's theme, replacing "[[East St. Louis Toodle-Oo]]". Ellington and his associates wrote for an orchestra of distinctive voices displaying tremendous creativity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theoryjazz.com/artists/ellington.html|title=Jazz Musicians – Duke Ellington|publisher=Theory Jazz|access-date=July 14, 2009|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903233432/http://theoryjazz.com/artists/ellington.html|archive-date=September 3, 2015}}</ref> The commercial recordings from this era were re-issued in the three-CD collection, ''[[Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band|Never No Lament]]'', in 2003.

Ellington's long-term aim, though, was to extend the jazz form from that three-minute limit, of which he was an acknowledged master.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crawford|first=Richard|title=The American Musical Landscape|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|year=1993|isbn=978-0520077645|url=https://archive.org/details/americanmusicall00rich}}</ref> While he had composed and recorded some extended pieces before, such works now became a regular feature of Ellington's output. In this, he was helped by Strayhorn, who had enjoyed a more thorough training in the forms associated with classical music than Ellington. The first of these, ''[[Black, Brown, and Beige]]'' (1943), was dedicated to telling the story of African Americans and the place of slavery and the church in their history.{{sfn|page=131|Brothers|2018}} ''Black, Brown and Beige'' debuted at [[Carnegie Hall]] on January 23, 1943, beginning an annual series of Ellington concerts at the venue over the next four years. While some jazz musicians had played at Carnegie Hall before, none had performed anything as elaborate as Ellington's work. Unfortunately, starting a regular pattern, Ellington's longer works were generally not well received.

A partial exception was ''Jump for Joy'', a full-length musical based on themes of African-American identity, which debuted on July 10, 1941, at the [[Mayan Theater]] in Los Angeles. Hollywood actors [[John Garfield]] and [[Mickey Rooney]] invested in the production, and [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Orson Welles]] offered to direct.<ref>Harvey G. Cohen, ''Duke Ellington's America'', Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2010, p. 189.</ref> At one performance, Garfield insisted that Herb Jeffries, who was light-skinned, should wear makeup. Ellington objected in the interval and compared Jeffries to [[Al Jolson]]. The change was reverted. The singer later commented that the audience must have thought he was an entirely different character in the second half of the show.<ref>{{harvnb|Cohen|2010|pp=190–191}}</ref>

Although it had sold-out performances and received positive reviews,<ref>{{harvnb|Cohen|2010|pp=191–92}}</ref> it ran for only 122 performances until September 29, 1941, with a brief revival in November of that year. Its subject matter did not make it appealing to Broadway; Ellington had unfulfilled plans to take it there.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brent |first=David |url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/jump-for-joy-duke-ellingtons-celebratory-musical/ |title=Jump For Joy: Duke Ellington's Celebratory Musical &#124; Night Lights Classic Jazz – WFIU Public Radio |publisher=Indianapublicmedia.org |date=February 6, 2008 |access-date=December 31, 2011}}</ref> Despite this disappointment, a Broadway production of Ellington's ''[[Beggar's Holiday]]'', his sole book musical, premiered on December 23, 1946,<ref>Lawrence, 2001, p. 287.</ref> under the direction of [[Nicholas Ray]].

The settlement of the [[1942–1944 musicians' strike|first recording ban of 1942–44]], leading to an increase in royalties paid to musicians, had a severe effect on the financial viability of the big bands, including Ellington's Orchestra. His income as a songwriter ultimately subsidized it. Although he always spent lavishly and drew a respectable income from the orchestra's operations, the band's income often just covered expenses.<ref>{{Harvnb|Hasse|1993|p=274}}.</ref> However, in 1943 Ellington asked Webster to leave; the saxophonist's personality made his colleagues anxious and the saxophonist was regularly in conflict with the leader.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lawrence|2001|pp=321–322}}.</ref>