Filmed just six years before Duke Ellington’s death and at the peak of his career, On the Road with Duke Ellington serves as perhaps the most revealing an intimate portrait of the artist ever recorded. “A man who writes music has got to hear it,” Ellington says. “Music is very regenerating when performed…a profit in joy.” In this film, the camera follows as Ellington moves from town to town, between recording studios, concert halls, hotels, always concerned with reaching people with his art.

Credits
Executive Producer
Robert Drew
Mike Jackson
Producer
Abbot Mills
Photographer
Darwin Deen
Photographer
Bill Hanson
Assistant
Harry Moses
Associate Producer
Anne Gilbert
Editor
Naomi Mankowitz
Editor
Awards
1968 Cine Golden Eagle
1969 Atlanta Intl. Film Festival, Bronze Medal
Reviews/Media
"A superb profile on an elusive subject"
Variety"The camera reveals, the Duke is tense-a musician in almost desperate search of that melody"
Newsweek"The best film on Ellington"