Ellington vs Gershwin: should American music swing or be scored?

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DUKE ELLINGTON vs GERSHWIN go head to head — and every jab is rooted in real history.

DUKE ELLINGTON

George, our music was born in the band, breathing and swinging in the moment - you can't pin that to a page.

GERSHWIN

But Duke, I brought jazz into the concert hall with 'Rhapsody in Blue' - I gave it the dignity of the score.

DUKE ELLINGTON

Dignity? My men made the dignity every night; I wrote for their souls, not for symphony seats.

GERSHWIN

And yet the world remembers a rhapsody it can play forever - I didn't cage the swing, Duke, I gave it a home that outlives the room.

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