As long as we're in a democracy, I have to give what I think the majority of people will enjoy.

The record companies are interested in the kind of sales they can get from the rock groups.

Ellington is a writer and arranger, as well as a musician and leader. He does movie sound tracks.

I don't want to sound as if I'm doing something tremendously special. But I am a jazz fan.

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.

If you look at my audiences, even in Europe, they're hardly teenagers.

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.