Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellingtonwas an American composer, pianist, and bandleader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death in a career spanning over fifty years...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPianist
Date of Birth29 April 1899
CountryUnited States of America
believe kind speak
I don’t believe in categories of any kind, and when you speak of problems between blacks and whites in the U.S.A. you are referring to categories again.
writing play ifs-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.
music thinking should-have
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.
hell stravinsky new-music
New music? Hell, there's been no new music since Stravinsky.
men language praying
Every man prays in his own language.
taste belief be-true-to-yourself
Create, and be true to yourself, and depend only on your own good taste.
music fate want
Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young.
music play mistress
Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.
music children mind
Roaming through the jungle of "Ohs" and "Ahs" searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats.
knees i-can has-beens
Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees.
new-orleans trying too-late
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.
art want dangerous
Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don't want it.
music feel-good jazz-and-life
If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
music mean doe
What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?