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
sweet littles dirt
Sing sweet, but put a little dirt in it.
music play murder
It's like an act of murder-you play with intent to commit something.
dog creativity ice-cream
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 my first piece of finished music.
successful two yardsticks
There are simply two kinds of music, good music and the other kind ... the only yardstick by which the result should be judged is simply that of how it sounds. If it sounds good it's successful; if it doesn't it has failed.
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.