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Article: Duke Ellington Memorial unveiled in New York City.
- Article from:
- Jet
- Article date:
- July 21, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Duke Ellington Memorial was recently unveiled during a ceremony in Harlem, NY. It is the first public monument in the U.S. honoring the great jazz artist and composer.
Cabaret singer-pianist Bobby Short was the key figure in developing the memorial to Ellington, who died in 1974.
Short formed the nonprofit organization, the Duke Ellington Memorial Fund, in 1979 to raise funds for the memorial.
The memorial is the result of an outpouring of more than $1 million in gifts from Ellington's friends and admirers around the world--including Bill Cosby, Gregory Hines, Tony Bennett and Jessye Norman--as well as foundations and corporations.
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