For years, Jazz At The Philharmonic albums were the only ones of their kind.
Amsterdam must have more than a million people. But the only area where jazz is really profitable and successful in an economic sense is in Japan. That's because they haven't been exposed enough.
As long as we're in a democracy, I have to give what I think the majority of people will enjoy.
Ellington is a writer and arranger, as well as a musician and leader. He does movie sound tracks.
Germany is probably the richest country in Western Europe. Yet they wouldn't take any television with Duke and Ella, their reaction being that people weren't interested in it.
I allowed artists to play for as long as they felt they could justifiably continue to create.
I find myself more at peace when I live in Europe.
I'm concerned with trend. I don't know where jazz fans will come from 20 years from now.
Ella can work nightclubs that Duke might not be able to work, because of having the big band. Where they go now is strictly a matter of their own names and talents.
I made it easier for many artists to play in certain areas.
I don't know who's 18 years old today that, 20 years hence, is going to be a jazz fan.
I don't want to sound as if I'm doing something tremendously special. But I am a jazz fan.
I don't think that jazz, as any kind of an art form, has any permanence attached to it, apart from the practitioners of it.
I don't think I will ever do any tours again in the United States. I rather think that that's over with.
I don't say that the supposed Civil Rights development is a myth, but it's a matter of dealing with reality. It's purely peripheral and, in many cases, it's just a facade.