Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Common Sense Note
We found no objectionable content in this book.
The artwork is a pleasure, the text is jazzy, and combined they provide a transporting story that requires attention but repays a bit of effort.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Peter Lewis
This book calls up the spirit of Duke and his band through its whirling, swirling art and its vivid language. Although Andrea Davis Pinkney more than once pushes the lingo too far, leaving readers sprawling in the wake of her patter, mostly it is a fun and ear-opening ride, an exciting if taxing introduction to the jargon.
Readers looking for a biography of Ellington should head elsewhere, for the Pinkneys are trying to achieve a sense of time and place, and impress readers with the effect that Ellington had both on the African-American community and on the world of music. It is not Ellington who rises from these pages, but his art.
As a read-aloud, Duke can be a strain--for the reader and the listener--the text so dazzling it blinds, then perhaps loses, its audience. Better, then, to let it hold its own as a read-alone so the words can be taken in at the reader's pace and savored like pieces of hard candy.
From The Book
For all those homebodies out in radio-lovers' land--folks who only dreamed of sitting pretty at the Cotton--the show helped them feel like they were out on the town. Duke's "Creole Love Call" was spicier than a pot of jambalaya. His "Mood Indigo" was a musical stream that swelled over the airwaves.
Plot Summary:
A charged-up introduction to Duke Ellington, his band, and his music. Andrea Davis Pinkney tells the story in words as sparkling as the Duke's music, and her husband Brian's scratchboard artwork dances with color and pep. Kids will feel like they can step right into 1940s Harlem.
Related Books:
Another writer who has successfully explored aspects of the African-American musical experience through imagery is Chris Raschka in Mysterious Theloniousand Charlie Parker Played Be-Bop.
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