I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
DUKE ELLINGTONI merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
DUKE ELLINGTONThe most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
DUKE ELLINGTONEvery man prays in his own language.
DUKE ELLINGTONJazz is a good barometer of freedom.
DUKE ELLINGTONThere is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone.
DUKE ELLINGTONThere is no art without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTONFate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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 ELLINGTONIf it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
DUKE ELLINGTONWhat does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
DUKE ELLINGTONA musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTONMy biggest kick in music -playing or writing- is when I have a problem. Without a problem to solve, how much interest do you take in anything?
DUKE ELLINGTONPlaying ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
DUKE ELLINGTONI don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
DUKE ELLINGTONThe 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.
DUKE ELLINGTONSelf-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
DUKE ELLINGTON