"Duke Ellington Day" was officially declared in NYC last Wednesday to commemorate the music legend's 110th birthday, and the Ellington estate put together a heck of a celebration with the help of ICON Collectibles. 
The day started with the Duke Ellington orchestra playing a set in the 125th st. subway station in Harlem. Complete with a baby grand piano. Inside the subway station. I have no idea how they got it there.
The orchestra generated quite a bit of interest from passing straphangers, and I'd say about 90% of the rather large audience had no idea that they would be attending a tribute concert that morning. We even managed to catch the attention of an entire elementary school class - they may not have had any idea who Duke Ellington was, but that didn't stop them from dancing to the jazzy beats.
There was a lot of press, with the NY Times and several of the local news stations there to document the fact that subway musicians aren't always drunk hobos singing off-key . Duke's grandkids were there, with his grandson conducting the orchestra and his granddaughter posing for pictures with people wearing funny-looking jackets. Someone from the mayor's office showed up to read a statement by Bill Clinton and unveil the very official-looking Proclamation.
Then the transit Gods sent over a vintage 1939 subway car and ferried everyone - including the band, which kept playing - downtown along the A line. Later that evening the band played another set at the Columbus Circle Borders, followed by a party which I wasn't invited to. It's okay, though, I had pictures to upload.
I was there to document the goings-on, but so was a NY Times photographer and quite frankly, his pictures are way better than mine. His camera is way more expensive than mine, too, so don't be so hard on me. Here's a link to the NY Times feature on the festivities at the station:
click here to see what an expensive camera can do!
ICON had framed photos of Duke on display at the station and later at Borders, and I managed to catch a lot of people taking pictures of the displayed photos. In my mind that's sort of like taping a TV show by videotaping the TV screen while the show plays, but what do I know. Well I do know this - you can purchase all of the photos that were on display at the station at the ICON site, right here:  click here to stimulate the economy!
"But Joe..." I can hear you saying, "I want to see the crappy pictures YOU took!" All right all right, if you insist. But you'll have to go to our Facebook page to see them. Click here to become a slave to social networking trends!
But what of the music? It was great! Subway acoustics are surprisingly good, at least when there isn't a train coming. And even though they weren't able to haul the piano onto the 1939 car, the band still managed to put together an entertaining show while trying to keep their balance. 
And this may be a bit off topic, but did you know that old subway cars had actual ceiling fans inside them? I didn't, and neither did my fingers. 
In closing, Duke Ellington Day proved to be a fitting tribute to Duke Ellington on his 110th birthday. On my 110th birthday I hope the city does something involving jetpacks, like maybe strap a jetpack onto a bear and have him race a penguin (also wearing a jetpack) to my birthplace in Skywalker Ranch. I wasn't really born on Skywalker Ranch, but I doubt anyone's going to bother checking on that in 70 years. Might as well start the legend now.