It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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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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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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Problems are chances for us to do our best.
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Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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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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Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
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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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Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.
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People do not retire. They are retired by others.
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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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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
DUKE ELLINGTON