Norman Granz

“Ella can work nightclubs that Duke might not be able to work, because of having the big band. Where they go now is strictly a matter of their own names and talents.”

“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.”

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

“Amsterdam must have more than a million people. But the only area where jazz is really profitable and successful in an economic sense is in Japan. That's because they haven't been exposed enough.”

“I don't say that the supposed Civil Rights development is a myth, but it's a matter of dealing with reality. It's purely peripheral and, in many cases, it's just a facade.”

“I find myself more at peace when I live in Europe.”

“My juices needed restoring. I needed a sabbatical from the record business.”

“I'm concerned with trend. I don't know where jazz fans will come from 20 years from now.”

“Sponsors and networks will really go all out and simply evaluate people on the basis of talent.”

“I still continue to do at least four concert tours a year, and in many cases, as many as six.”

“Germany is probably the richest country in Western Europe. Yet they wouldn't take any television with Duke and Ella, their reaction being that people weren't interested in it.”

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

“I don't think I will ever do any tours again in the United States. I rather think that that's over with.”

“The history of all big jazz bands shows was, first they played for dancing, and then they played for singing.”

“There are many artists that I present that I admit I like less than I do others. But I think that they warrant being presented by my own, personal standards.”

“In 1958, I decided that I was going to live in Europe permanently. So in 1959 I moved to Lugano, Switzerland.”

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

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

“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.”

“For years, Jazz At The Philharmonic albums were the only ones of their kind.”