There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it’s successful; if it doesn’t it has failed.
DUKE ELLINGTONEverybody in Canada seemed to listen to what they enjoyed, and nobody could tell them what to like, or what was the popular, or what was the In thing. Even today, it is very hard to brainwash a Canadian.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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I don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.
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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 no art without intention.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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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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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.
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It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
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Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
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I don’t need time, I need a deadline.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
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A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
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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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Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.
DUKE ELLINGTON