There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
DUKE ELLINGTONIf it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
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Of the One O’Clock Lab Band after hearing their performance, and sitting in with them at the White House: “I wish it were mine”.
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I’m sure critics have their purpose, and they’re supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what he did.
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Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.
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Selfishness can be a virtue. Selfishness is essential to survival, and without survival we cannot protect those whom we love more than ourselves.
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The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.
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You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
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By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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You’ve got to find a way of saying it without saying it.
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Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
DUKE ELLINGTON