Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.
DUKE ELLINGTONMusic, 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.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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A Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
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What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
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New music? Hell, there’s been no new music since Stravinsky.
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It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline!
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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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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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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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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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Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
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The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
DUKE ELLINGTON