Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
DUKE ELLINGTONArt is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don’t want it.
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 ELLINGTONThe most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
DUKE ELLINGTONYet, every time God’s children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.
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 ELLINGTONA Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
DUKE ELLINGTONLove is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
DUKE ELLINGTONMusic is the tonal reflection of beauty.
DUKE ELLINGTONI fluffed off the guy who kept requesting tunes all night, then found out he was the King’s son.
DUKE ELLINGTONNow I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
DUKE ELLINGTONIt don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
DUKE ELLINGTONMy mother told me I was blessed, and I have always taken her word for it. Being born of – or reincarnated from – royalty is nothing Like being blessed. Royalty is inherited from another human being; blessedness comes from God.
DUKE ELLINGTONSing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
DUKE ELLINGTONYou have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
DUKE ELLINGTONOf the One O’Clock Lab Band after hearing their performance, and sitting in with them at the White House: “I wish it were mine”.
DUKE ELLINGTONJazz is a good barometer of freedom.
DUKE ELLINGTON