Biography
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Born
28 November 1970 (age 54)
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Born In
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States
Cat Ellington (born Kimberly Monique Hart to parents Linda Marie Hart and Ezell Ellington-Jenkins on November 28, 1970) is an American songwriter, composer, casting director, poet, author, and entrepreneur from Chicago, IL. A creative artist who wears several hats in the arts and entertainment industry, including music, movies, art, and literature, Ellington got her start in music at age ten. She composed her first song, titled "The Baby's Song," in January of 1981. And the work would be the foundation of many more to come over the future years of her young life. And though Cat took her mother's surname, Hart, at birth, she would later adopt her father's surname, Ellington, in her personal life and professional life.
A child prodigy to her musical educators, Ellington would soon follow up "The Baby's Song" with a string of other song works, including "Gluttony (The Shell)," a piece she wrote for Barbra Streisand in 1982, inspired by her childhood struggle with obesity. In that same year, then 11-years-old, Ellington founded Black Jaguar Songs. Throughout the years, into her teens and young adulthood, Ellington built a song catalog containing dozens of works that spanned several genres: R&B, Jazz, Blues, Gospel, and Pop. And as the years progressed, the gifted lyricist would compose more works in other genres, including Heavy Metal, Classical, Soft Rock, Christian, Reggae, Folk, and Country. To this day, the Cat Ellington song catalog contains hundreds of works spanning 24 genres. And her songwriting influences number many: they include Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Burt Bacharach, Phil Collins, Barry Manilow, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland, Paul Simon, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Thom Bell, Linda Creed, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon, among others. In 2005, Cat Ellington updated the name of her music publishing house from Black Jaguar Songs to The Black Jaguar Music Company.
Who some may call a late bloomer, Cat Ellington finally released the first bundle of original songs from her massive catalog in 2020. As the primary author of Dual Mania (The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Ellington contributed five songs, including "The Book of Us," "Something in Your Eyes," "Gett Out," "I'm Still in Love," and "I Do," the latter winning the 2019 Vegas Movie Award for Best Song. While two of the tracks, including "I Do" and "I'm Still in Love," were written for R&B songstresses, Rachelle Ferrell and Tamia, a newcomer named Jaki Cavins would be the one to record them. The Minneapolis-based vocalist was introduced to Cat by Princeton Brown, Ellington's producer. Cavins would also record "The Book of Us" and "Something in Your Eyes" for the soundtrack. "Gett Out," the first release from the Heavy Metal collection of the Cat Ellington song catalog and a work Ellington co-wrote with filmmaker Joseph Strickland, would be recorded by Hippo Campus bandmate DeCarlo Jackson.
In her role as a casting director, Ellington, the founder of The Centaur Casting Agency, began her career in the motion picture industry with her work on Joseph Strickland's debut film, "Dual Mania," in 1993. Ellington, commissioned by Vital Vision Productions to steer the film cast, completed her duties in 1996; and filming on "Dual Mania" wrapped in 1999. However, the long-awaited thriller would not be released until 2018, the year that it would screen before a live audience at the Alternative Film Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In time, the psychological thriller centered around a new doctor with a troubled patient would become a film festival darling, winning over twelve awards worldwide, including honors for Best Screenplay (Joseph Strickland), Best Feature Film, and Best Director (Joseph Strickland), among others. Added to these awards was the 2019 Vegas Movie Award honor presented to Cat Ellington and Princeton Brown for "I Do."
Cat Ellington is also notable in literature. In 2005, she founded Quill Pen Ink Publishing, a literary press through which her prolific bibliography would be published. In 2018, she released the first of twelve books in her famous "Reviews by Cat Ellington" series, followed by a book of quotes titled "You Can Quote Me On That," and her poetry compilations, "More Imaginative Than Ordinary Speech," "Memoirs in Gogyohka," and "Strike a Prose." In 2021, Vital Vision Publications released five sheet music books from The Cat Ellington Sheet Music Collection, including "I Do," "The Book of Us," "I'm Still in Love," "Something in Your Eyes," and "Gett Out." The publications correspond with Instrumentals: Music from the Motion Picture Dual Mania, an EP composed by Cat Ellington and Joseph Strickland; and produced by Princeton Brown and Greg Schutte for Vital Vision Records. Under Ellington's composition are the Instrumental recordings of her five original song works previously recorded with vocals by Jaki Cavins and DeCarlo Jackson.
Cat Ellington has been married to film director Joseph Strickland since 1994. The couple share three children, including Nathaniel Strickland, Nairobi Strickland, and author Naras Kimono.
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