Duke Ellington was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1965….but no prize was ultimately awarded that year…..and being then 66 years old, he joked….”Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be famous too young.”….and in 1999 he was posthumously awarded a special Pulitzer Prize “commemorating the centennial year of his birth, in recognition of his musical genius, which evoked aesthetically the principles of democracy through the medium of jazz and thus made an indelible contribution to art and culture.”
Duke turned 65 in the spring of 1964….but showed no signs of slowing down….as he continued to make vital and innovative recordings….including The Far East Suite in 1966…..New Orleans Suite in 1970…. Latin American Suite in 1972….and The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse in 1971….with much of it being inspired by his world tours…..for it was during this time that he recorded his only album with Frank Sinatra….which was entitled Francis A. & Edward K. in 1967….as all of this was done some 40 years after his first recording.
