"Then there was another group of musicians that didn't know music. Some of them could only play in one key. But they played precious things. I was in between. My greatest influence came from the ragtime piano players. I was trying to play ragtime. That's what I was trying to do, but it came out a little different.
I wouldn't have been a good musician if I'd gone to a conservatory and studied in the usual way. I haven't the discipline." - Duke Ellington, 1945
from The Duke Ellington Reader  ¶ 9:20 PM