The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern’ art. What is more African than a Picasso?
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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Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct.
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.
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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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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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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.
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Every man prays in his own language.
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Jazz is a good barometer of freedom.
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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
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New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillacs, and beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden in their mattresses.
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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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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
DUKE ELLINGTON






