A Question of Containment: Duke Ellington and Early Radio

Nearly all scholars studying Duke Ellington's early period emphasize
the debt he owes radio for spreading his music and exponentially in-
creasing his fame. Yet they provide little documentation demonstrating
any impact radio may have had upon the composer's career from 1923
when Ellington arrived in New York City -one of broadcasting's early
capitals- to February 1931 when Ellington and his orchestra completed
a successful stint at Harlem's notorious Cotton Club. This dearth of information can be attributed partially to the relative scarcity of surviving
data relating to radio from that period.