There is no art when one does something without intention.
DUKE ELLINGTONCritics 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.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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There are two kinds of worries – those you can do something about and those you can’t. Don’t spend any time on the latter.
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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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Every man prays in his own language.
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There is no art without intention.
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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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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
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Dancing is very important to people who play music with a beat. I think that people who don’t dance, or who never did dance, don’t really understand the beat. I know musicians who don’t and never did dance, and they have difficulty communicating.
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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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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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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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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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I’m sure critics have their purpose, 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 he did.
DUKE ELLINGTON