37+ Duke Ellington Quotes About Jazz. "playing bop is like playing scrabble with all the vowels missing." "by and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn't . These 20 miles davis quotes offer a . From listening to duke ellington and hearing a lot of jazz in new york on the radio. Edward kennedy duke ellington was an american composer, pianist, and bandleader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death in a career . Jazz is a good barometer of freedom picture quote #1. Jazz today, as always in the past, is a matter jazz . The jazz icon in his own words. "jazz is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country." ― duke ellington. The dark magus always had plenty to say about himself and his music. Duke ellington was famous for hs very original harmonic patterns.