Duke Ellington

There is no art without intention.

My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.

It’s all music.

Roaming through the jungle of ‘oohs’ 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.

If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!

Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.

[On the word Jazz] There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s only a word. What’s in a name? Nothing! Cats say, Call me Muhammed so-and-so. But what’s the difference? A name doesn’t make the music. It’s just called that to differentiate it from other types of music. Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that’s it. No America, no jazz. I’ve seen people try to connect it to other countries, for instance to Africa, but it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with Africa.

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive.

When I write songs that touch on social relevance, all you have to do is pick up a newspaper.

I loved Billie Holiday more than any other person other than myself on the stage.

They said Bird played bebop, but Bird could still swing. I’ve heard a lot of guys play bebop, but they wasn’t swinging.

Why Jazz? This is just the way I see music.

I am very aware that so little has happened to the electric guitar from the time that it was conceived to now; where there are so little changes made where there should be drastic changes made. If we were to put our heads together and start thinking about modern technology we would be much more advantaged with the electric guitar than we are. I think that we’ve been stagnant for many years.

If you can’t play the Blues you might as well hang it up.

I guess what everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved. And to know that you loved me for my singing is too much for me. Forgive me if I don’t have all the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand.

If you already have a piece of music ingrained in your body, why would you not play it?

Your accompanist has a lot to do with how you sing, so experiment and choose your partner wisely.

Music used to be essential and meaningful, but now it’s disposable.

Music should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears to the eyes of woman.

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.

My neighbors always listen to very hip Jazz… whether they like it or not.