Duke does something with this old, tired instrumentation of trumpets, trombones and saxophones, and he has a perfect way of utilizing the men's specific sounds. Anything he plays is a work of art. The band is out of tune, for instance, and it doesn't even matter. They almost have their own brand of intonation. Duke can take an exotic-sounding idea and create something – you might call it sophisticated crudity. It gives both the qualities that I look for – an earthy quality and the sophisticated quality.

Reviewing "Agra" from Far East Suite, as quoted in "Clare Fischer: Blindfold Test" by Leonard Feather, in Downbeat (October 19, 1967), p. 38