Jazz is America's own. It is played and listened to by all peoples - in harmony together. Pigmentation differences have no place... as in genuine democracy, only performance counts.
If you don't get substantially what you want, be ready to walk. And don't look back.
The whole reason for Jazz at the Philharmonic was to take it to places where I could break down segregation.
You’re probably smarter than you present yourself.
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.
For years, Jazz At The Philharmonic albums were the only ones of their kind.
At Verve, my bookkeeper would invariably say, 'Well, why do you want to put out Roy Eldridge?' Or 'Why do you want to put out Ben Webster? They don't sell.' And I'd say, 'Well, whether they sell or not, they're important, they should be recorded and they're what Verve stands for, so we don't have to discuss that any further.
There are very few groups that really stay together. The leaders of groups make enough money to be able to afford to work a maximum of 35-40 weeks a year.
Jazz was uplifted by what I did.
I'm concerned with trend. I don't know where jazz fans will come from 20 years from now.
I'm talking as a professional impresario. I'm not judging anybody at all.
I don't want to sound as if I'm doing something tremendously special. But I am a jazz fan.
To play today in London, next week in Madrid and the week after that in Warsaw is a bit better than playing Newark and Baltimore and Philadelphia. I've been doing that for 20 years.
When I was doing jazz concerts in America, I would use the biggest names I could find.
My function at Verve was that of a genuine producer in artists and repertoire.
I find myself more at peace when I live in Europe.
I allowed artists to play for as long as they felt they could justifiably continue to create.
If you look at my audiences, even in Europe, they're hardly teenagers.
I still continue to do at least four concert tours a year, and in many cases, as many as six.
I made it easier for many artists to play in certain areas.
Ellington is a writer and arranger, as well as a musician and leader. He does movie sound tracks.
The economic picture in the States today doesn't allow for jazz concerts in a tour fashion. People now are too used to the Festival, which gives them more names for the same price.
As long as we're in a democracy, I have to give what I think the majority of people will enjoy.
The history of all big jazz bands shows was, first they played for dancing, and then they played for singing.
The public, hearing pop music, is, without knowing it, also soaking up jazz.
