Marian McPartland Music Quotations

Madeleine called me from Europe recently and was worried about whether we'd have rehearsal time before we go on, which, of course, we will. One thing I did ask of her was that she not bring a thick sheaf of music with her. I'm a terrible reader, so we'll pick tunes we both know,

There are a million good tunes.

Duke Ellington is my choice for many reasons. Nobody has written so many great pieces of music, which are everlasting, and he has made them available to the world through his orchestrations of his work in a unique way. Lastly, he was himself a fine pianist. He covers the entire musical spectrum with his genius.