Duke Ellington Quotes

The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Musician
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!
DUKE ELLINGTON

Mediocre Musician
It’s like an act of murder – you play with intent to commit something.
DUKE ELLINGTON
You have to stop listening in categories. The music is either good or it’s bad.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Category Listening
Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.
DUKE ELLINGTON
A musical profit outweighs a financial loss.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Financial Musical Profit
Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
DUKE ELLINGTON
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.
DUKE ELLINGTON
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.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Occupation Profession
Everyone prays in their own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.
DUKE ELLINGTON

Language

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