Armwood Jazz Blog: Duke Ellington, Before My Time
played trumpet and trumpet and with whom I used to hang out, told me-and later mentioned in his book, "Jazz Masters of the 30s"-"He snatches ideas out of the air. . . . On the Ellington orchestra's Pullman, he'd suddenly jump as if a bee had stung him . . . and scribble madly for hours-or sometimes only for a minute.
