The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern' art. What is more African than a Picasso? — Duke Ellington Copy Share Image
A Satin Doll is a woman who is as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside. — Duke Ellington Copy Share Image
Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter of thoughtful creation, not mere unaided instinct. — Duke Ellington Copy Share
The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen. — Duke Ellington Copy Share
The common root, of course, comes out of Africa. That's the pulse.The African pulse. It's all the way back from . . . the… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
If anybody was Mr. Jazz it was Louis Armstrong. He was the epitome of jazz and always will be. He is what I call… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
“New York is a place where the rich walk, the poor drive Cadillac's, and the beggars die of malnutrition with thousands of dollars hidden… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
Hurry, get on board, it's comin', listen to those rails a-thrumming all aboard. Get on the "A" train, soon you will be on Sugar… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
Everybody in Canada seemed to listen to what they enjoyed, and nobody could tell them what to like, or what was the popular, or… — Duke Ellington Copy Share
