ck doing crude recordings just for a few dollars to buy a meal. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with "Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)" released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue, which introduced European audiences to black-American styles and performers. In the autumn of 1927, luck had crossed paths with Duke again. The manager of Duke’s band, Irving Mills, had heard that the prestigious Cotton Club was looking for a new band, and immediately Irving began campaigning for Duke. Duke and his band opened on December 4, 1927 to meet a mad rush of spectators who eagerly waited to hear Dukes newest pieces. The band became very prosperous and had their own spot on the Cotton Club floor with special lighting and accommodations. The orchestra, now a ten piece conglomeration, developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicing of Ellington’s arrangements, the street rhythms of Harlem, and featured the exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, high-squealed trumpets, and sultry saxophone blues licks of the band members. With the success of compositions like "Mood Indigo," an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band’s reputation soared. While Duke’s band was performing at the Cotton Club, they participated in more than sixty-four recording sessions. When he arrived in New York in 1931, his band grew to almost three times what it originally had been at the Cotton Club. Duke feared that this would become a very serious problem, considering how the stock market crashed in late 1929 and millions of people across the United States were out of work. Somehow, though, most of the entertainment business survived the economic hardships. Ellington’s band had appeared on Broadway and had even gone to Hollywood to make a mo...
