I worked, toured, and recorded with Duke Ellington for the last two years of his life - a period that was the highlight of my career. In my memoirs, The Essence and Duke Ellington, I aim to convey the spirit within the heart of the jazz musician, particularly Duke Ellington. I want to show what drove him and other musicians, past and present, to play and compose this wonderful music. I also depict Duke Ellington's greatness as a human being, not as some super-human being, which he may well have been. I recount stories and reflect on my own experiences, expounding on what working with and learning from him and so many other jazz greats has meant to me.