There is no art without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTONI 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.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern’ art. What is more African than a Picasso?
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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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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Every man prays in his own language.
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If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!
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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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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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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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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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The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
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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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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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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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The 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.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
DUKE ELLINGTON






