Being a casual fan of Duke is fine. That's what I always was before 2009. But, to paraphrase Kenneth Koch, it's a little bit like hanging around but not attending a school, or "almost" being in love with someone. To see Ellington whole opens up entire vistas; there is a whole lot of there there that the casual fan is missing. I'm about an eighth of the way there now, to where I want to be, not to a complete reckoning (which I'll probably never attain).

It's not a matter of loving everything equally, but of exploring a vast territory with many interesting corners.