Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
DUKE ELLINGTONI don’t need time, I need a deadline.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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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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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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I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
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Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
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Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
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There is no art without intention.
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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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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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If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
DUKE ELLINGTON






