Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
DUKE ELLINGTONPlaying ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
More Duke Ellington Quotes
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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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Somehow I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself.
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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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I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
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My mother told me I was blessed, and I have always taken her word for it. Being born of – or reincarnated from – royalty is nothing Like being blessed. Royalty is inherited from another human being; blessedness comes from God.
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There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
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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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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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Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
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Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
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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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The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen.
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Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
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There are 2 rules in life: Number 1- Never quit. Number2- Never forget rule number 1.
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A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON