Don't think of Duke Ellington as a bandleader. Instead, consider him in the same light as other great entrepreneurs like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google) ...

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the very dance-oriented swinging music of the Big Bands was the most popular music around. Never had jazz been more central to mass culture. Just over the horizon ...