Duke Ellington on Music

“When it sounds good, it IS good.” Duke Ellington (1899-1974)

"Somehow, I suspect that if Shakespeare were alive today, he might be a jazz fan himself—he’d appreciate the combination of team spirit and informality, of academic knowledge and humor, of all the elements that go into a great jazz performance. And I am sure he would agree with the simple and axiomatic statement that is so important to all of us—when it sounds good, it is good." April 1957 in Ellington’s program notes for a concert he performed entitled “Such Sweet Thunder.” Quoted at https://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/duke-ellington/ 

Duke Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader over a career spanning more than six decades.  He earned 14 Grammy Awards, the 1969 American Medal of Freedom, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.