It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
DUKE ELLINGTONIt’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
DUKE ELLINGTONThere are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
DUKE ELLINGTONI merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
DUKE ELLINGTONGray skies are just clouds passing over.
DUKE ELLINGTONI don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.
DUKE ELLINGTONProblems are chances for us to do our best.
DUKE ELLINGTONJazz is a good barometer of freedom.
DUKE ELLINGTONMusic is the tonal reflection of beauty.
DUKE ELLINGTONYou have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
DUKE ELLINGTONThe wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
DUKE ELLINGTONMusic, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It’s not an occupation or profession, it’s a compulsion.
DUKE ELLINGTONSelfishness can be a virtue. Selfishness is essential to survival, and without survival we cannot protect those whom we love more than ourselves.
DUKE ELLINGTONLove is indescribable and unconditional. I could tell you a thousand things that it is not, but not one that it is. Either you have it or you haven’t; there’s no proof of it.
DUKE ELLINGTONI like any and all of my associations with music: writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky.
DUKE ELLINGTONThere are two kinds of worries – those you can do something about and those you can’t. Don’t spend any time on the latter.
DUKE ELLINGTONA Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
DUKE ELLINGTON