The Europeans who went to Africa came back with “modern' art. What is more African than a Picasso? — Duke Ellington Copy Share Image
There is hardly any money interest in art, and music will be there when money is gone. — Duke Ellington Copy Share Image
Art is dangerous. It is one of the attractions: when it ceases to be dangerous, you don't want it. — 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 Image
The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen. — Duke Ellington Copy Share Image
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 Image
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 Image
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 Image
