If anybody was Mr. Jazz it was Louis Armstrong. He was the epitome of jazz and always will be. He is what I call an American standard, an American original.
DUKE ELLINGTONThere are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it’s successful; if it doesn’t it has failed.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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.
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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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Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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I fluffed off the guy who kept requesting tunes all night, then found out he was the King’s son.
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Problems are chances for us to do our best.
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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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Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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Critics have their purposes, 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 they did.
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There is nothing to keeping a band together. You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money!
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Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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My 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?
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Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.
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There is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone.
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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
DUKE ELLINGTON