Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
DUKE ELLINGTONMusic is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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Music is the tonal reflection of beauty.
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Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
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Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
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Everybody 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.
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Every man prays in his own language.
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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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You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
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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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Love is supreme and unconditional; like is nice but limited.
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I fluffed off the guy who kept requesting tunes all night, then found out he was the King’s son.
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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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It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line
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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 most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
DUKE ELLINGTON