I Took The A Train: Day Dreamin Bout Duke

by Ralph Miles Jones

As I sat on the crowded A-train to Harlem, I slipped in and out of a daydream. Anxious about my meeting with the Maestro, Duke Ellington, thoughts, emotions, and questions raced through my head. I sorted the events that I imagined and hoped would transpire from my mystical luncheon with Duke, one the great spirits that I wanted to dialogue with.

I had questions about his personal, philosophical, musical, historical, political, and money-earning experiences, leading a large ensemble on the road, 350 days every year. I didn’t want to appear un-hip, with the one who created the word and stretched the meaning to heights of hipness never felt before.

As an aspiring educator and student of African American musical history, I sought interpretations coming from the mouths of those who created the music. In my dream state, I reflected on Duke’s influences like Oliver “Doc“ Perry, a Washington D.C. bandleader, whom Duke referred to as his piano parent. Pianist Louis Brown influenced Duke with poise, manners, discipline musical skills, and broadmindedness. Duke was snared by the music and musicians he saw. In his memories, he wrote, “Music is everything and the scope of music is immense and infinite.”

The train stopped at West 4th Street, and I saw the blank faces that rode this train, day after day, never thinking about the composer of the song about the train they rode. But they knew they were headed up to Harlem. Duke loved his people and his family. He understood that struggle was their constant companion. He wore the badge of courage and dignity.

In 1919, Duke witnessed a summer of interracial strife, when scores of blacks were killed and lynched countrywide. The count was 76, but most were unreported. He saw armed soldiers and sailors attack unarmed Black civilians. This was a painful time, a time to cross bridges in his life’s journey.

I thought about Duke’s compositions and what it meant to have an ensemble of great musicians express his musical thoughts and feelings. Will Marion Cook told Duke “First, you find the logical way. When you find it, avoid it, and let your inner self break through. Don’t try to be anyone but yourself.“ Duke lived by these words of wisdom, during his time on Earth.