I like any and
I like any and all of my associations with music: writing, playing, and listening. We write and play from our perspective, and the audience listens from its perspective. If and when we agree, I am lucky. Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
The word [jazz] never
The word [jazz] never lost its association with those New Orleans bordellos. In the 1920s I used to try to convince Fletcher Henderson that we ought to call what we were doing ‘Negro music’. But it’s too late for that now. Duke Ellington
San Francisco is one
San Francisco is one of the great cultural plateaus of the world – one of the really urbane communities in the United States – one of the truly cosmopolitan places and for many, many years, it always has had a warm welcome for human beings from all over the world Duke Ellington
I’m sure critics have
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
I don’t need time,
I don’t need time, I need a deadline. Duke Ellington
My biggest kick in
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? Duke Ellington
Without a deadline, baby,
Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing. Duke Ellington
I began by tinkering
I began by tinkering around with some old tunes I knew. Then, just to try something different, I set to putting some music to the rhythm that I used in jerking ice-cream sodas at the Poodle Dog. I fooled around with the tune more and more until at last, lo and behold, I had completed … Read more
In music, as you
In music, as you develop a theme or musical idea, there are many points at which directions must be decided, and at any time I was in the throes of debate with myself, harmonically or melodically, I would turn to Billy Strayhorn. We would talk, and then the whole world would come into focus. The … Read more
Critics have their purposes,
Critics have their purposes, 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 they did. Duke Ellington