Duke Ellington Quotes

“В игре Джонни Ходжеса было что-то возвышенное, необъяснимое и абсолютно
чувственное. Чувственность, так сказать, в чистом виде, освобожденная от
всего телесного. Под воздействием музыки все углы комнаты округлились. Колен
и Хлоя лежали теперь в центре некоей сферы.

-- Что это? -- спросила Хлоя.
-- The Mood to be Wooed, -- ответил Колен.
-- Я это почувствовала, -- сказала Хлоя. -- А как доктор войдет в
комнату такой формы?”
― Борис Виан, L'écume des jours

“I'm a fan first. I believed Duke Ellington when he said there's no bad music, just some of it is presented badly. As a kid, hanging around Church Street, the presentation of music was so powerful, I couldn't help but jump for joy. I had discovered art, or truth, or whatever you want to call it; I had seen a light I'd follow forever.”
― B.B. King, Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King

“Robert Patterson. One day in New York in 1974 I got a call from Robert and his wife, Sybille, asking me to come to the Plaza Hotel for drinks and dinner. When I got there, they explained that Duke (Ellington) was terribly sick and that he was going to call in a few minutes to talk to Robert about canceling his upcoming tour in the United Kingdom. We began our dinner, and the call came. Then Robert passed the phone to me. I remember standing near the long velvet curtains by the window, looking out at the lights in Central Park twinkling through the trees. Duke’s voice was weak, but he spoke to me so kindly, and asked me about my upcoming record, about my touring. How did I like working in Europe? Did I have family? Wasn’t I glad I was a musician so I could lead this kind of life doing what I loved and making people happy? The next week Duke died, never having left the hospital.”
― Judy Collins, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music

“We started to dance. Florence was remarkably good. She clung to me like jello to a moulding tin, following my lead as though we'd practiced the mambo at Arthur Murray's for ten years. When the music stopped we walked over to the stand. The leader smiled widely and hit three questioning chords on his guitar.

'Please play, "I Got It Bad—"'

'And that ain't good!' He finished for me.

'Play it.' I opened my wallet. The smallest I had was a ten-dollar bill. I gave it to him. 'Play it ten times.'

'Yes, sir!' He slammed his foot down and they went into it.”
― Charles Willeford, Wild Wives