"If it sounds good, it is good."

[ooheadsoo]

Well, according to Kenny Burrell, the actual Ellington quote is, "If it sounds right, it is right."

Well, maybe Mr. Burrell is wrong. But I hope not, considering his status and the fact that he's teaching a class on Ellington

 

[joelongwood]

Sorry, Mr. Burrell, here's the quote, in context, from the official Ellington site (it's at the end):

ASCAP Mean Good Music
by Duke Ellington

The wonderful thing about ASCAP is that it was formed by big men, successful men. People like Victor Herbert, John Philip Souse, James Weldon Johnson and Irving Berlin didn't have to worry for they had already made it. This is something the writer who is participating today can look back on and marvel at. Usually it's a matter of hungry cats out to make a killing for themselves. These men had position and stature and their creation of ASCAP was a first and major step toward insuring recognition and obtaining a measure of security for American composers and authors.
When I joined in 1935, I was very fortunate, because I received an award in my very first year, for "Solitude." Such as incentive, needless to say, is definitely conducive to further endeavor!
During tours of Europe, I have had many opportunities to appreciate just how esteem abroad is the kind of American music ASCAP stands for. Our recent tour of the Middle East for the State Department showed me, more than everbefore, how music can really reach across frontiers and not merely political frontiers, but frontiers of musical tradition and heritage. Some people disagree with me about this, but I don't think it's necessary for a listener to understand what he's listening to, to enjoy. For instance, I didn't have to know anything about Indian music to enjoy it, and judging from the response we got in some of the unlikeliest places, the reverse held good, too. I took this as a support of my contention that the categories don't matter and the first thing to be said about music is that if it sounds good, it is good.

 

[ooheadsoo]

Interesting matter. I hesitate to take it up with Mr. Burrell...Mr. Burrell being who he is...After all he was friends with duke and that's how he chose to remember his words. Maybe Mr. Burrell was quoting duke from a different conversation. He did mention that duke said the same things with different words many times simply because he gave so many different interviews.

 

[JMT]

Does this mean that I don't have to change my signature?

 

[ooheadsoo]

Well, unless ASCAP misprinted duke's article, I think you're safe, JMT