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 ELLINGTONIf 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.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
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It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
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You’ve got to find a way of saying it without saying it.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.
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Yet, every time God’s children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty-trying to communicate themselves, understood or not, miracles have happened.
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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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Music, 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.
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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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A goal is a dream with a finish line.
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The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
DUKE ELLINGTON






