Mercer Ellington

Composer ("Things Ain't What They Used to Be"), trumpeter, conductor, and arranger, educated at Juilliard, New York University, and Columbia University. He formed his own band in 1939, and served in the US Army during World War II, then led his band until 1949. By 1954 he was the road manager and trumpeter for the Cootie Williams orchestra, and then general assistant to his father Duke Ellington from 1955 to 1959. He organized a recording orchestra and made many records, and found time to be a radio commentator for WLIB in New York. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his chief musical collaborator was his father, and his other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Blue Serge", "Moon Mist", "Jumpin' Pumpkins", "The Girl in My Dreams", and "John Hardy's Wife".