Take the "A" Train Take the "A" Train "Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). When ASCAP raised its licensing fees for broadcast use, many ASCAP members, including Ellington, could no longer play their compositions over radio, as most music was played live on radio at the time. Ellington turned to Billy Strayhorn and son Mercer Ellington, who were registered with ASCAP
Duke Ellington House Duke Ellington House The Duke Ellington House is a historic residence at 935 St. Nicholas Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City. Apartment 4A in this apartment house was the home of Duke Ellington (1899-1974), the noted African American composer and jazz pianist, from 1939 through 1961. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The apartment house containing the Duke Ellington House is located in northern Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, at the southwest corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 157th Street. It is a six-story masonry structure, built in 1915 in