Always Quote by Wynton Marsalis

Duke Ellington was famous for hs very original harmonic patterns.

— Lawrence Welk

I wouldn't know absolutely everything I've been influenced by, but the first jazz I heard was Duke Ellington.

— Melody Gardot

I think I just had it by osmosis: an appreciation of Duke Ellington before I really even knew who he was.

— Brian Stokes Mitchell

You hear about the Duke Ellingtons, the Jimmie Luncefords, and the Fletcher Hendersons, but people sometimes forget that jazz was not only built in…

— Cab Calloway

Jazz infers a style, but creative music has a wider field and wider specification about it. We know it from people like Scott Joplin…

— Wadada Leo Smith

Do you think Duke Ellington didn't listen to Debussy? Louis Armstrong loved opera, did you know that? Name me a jazz pianist who wasn't…

— Dave Brubeck

You always come back to Duke Ellington - he's kind of like the thread that holds everything together from the big band descending to…

— Herbert

Duke Ellington's career traces the entire history of jazz. The repertoire associated with him contains the most important elements in the music and provides…

— Billy Taylor

Duke Ellington is my choice for many reasons. Nobody has written so many great pieces of music, which are everlasting, and he has made…

— Marian McPartland

[Prince] could very well be the Duke Ellington of Rock 'n' Roll.

— Miles Davis

Prince got some Marvin Gaye and Jimi Hendrix and Sly in him, also, even Little Richard. He's a mixture of all those guys and…

— Miles Davis

A few years later, my Uncle David took me to the Earle Theatre to hear Duke Ellington.

— David Amram