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
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?
play two mistress
If anybody was Mr. Jazz it was Louis Armstrong. He was the epitome of jazz and always will be. He is what I call an American standard, an American original. ... I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. ... I don't need time, I need a deadline. ...There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. ... Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one.
dance thinking play
Dancing is very important to people who play music with a beat. I think that people who don't dance, or who never did dance, don't really understand the beat... I know musicians who don't and never did dance, and they have difficulty communicating.
two numbers
Be a number one yourself. And not a number two somebody else.
music mean swings
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.
music dream goal
A goal is a dream with a finish line.
artist
The artist must say it without saying it.
music art intention
There is no art without intention.
people age aging
People do not retire. They are retired by others.
self discipline virtue
Self-discipline, as a virtue or an acquired asset, can be invaluable to anyone.
eye ideas hands
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 steady hand of his good judgment pointed to the clear way that was fitting for us. He was not, as he was often referred to by many, my alter ego. Billy Strayhorn was my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brainwaves in his head, and his in mine.