I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.
DUKE ELLINGTONSimplicity is a most complex form.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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I 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.
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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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Love 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.
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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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It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
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Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
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Every man prays in his own language.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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Everybody in Canada seemed to listen to what they enjoyed, and nobody could tell them what to like, or what was the popular, or what was the In thing. Even today, it is very hard to brainwash a Canadian.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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Simplicity is a most complex form.
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New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.
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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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A Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
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Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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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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