C Jam Blues (1942)

It's hard to overstate the contribution of Duke Ellington (C Jam Blues) 1942 but I'm going to try. Calling him jazz's most significant composer is unquestionable, but doesn't manage him justice: he's a centered number in the development of 20th Century well liked music. Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington DC, but he shifted to New York in his early twenties and kept his mailbox there - though he expended most of his time on the street - for remainder of his life. (Jimmy, pp. 20)

A multi-year commitment at the Cotton Club throughout its Roaring Twenties heyday ...