When we edit the music, I always remember, "It's my band. Save me a place to play." — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
Catch Harry Belafonte. He's got a helluva rhythm section.And so have the Pointer Sisters. And that little guy with Sammy Clayton. He… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
I've always told the musicians in my band to play what they know and then play above that. Because then anything can… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
It's not the note you play that's the wrong note - it's the note you play afterwards that makes it right or… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
It took me twenty years study and practice to work up to what I wanted to play in this performance. How can… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
Drummers - sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
My father's rich, my momma's good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I've never suffered and don't intend to suffer. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
I don't pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got is… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
If you got up on the bandstand at Minton's and couldn't play, you were not only going to be embarrassed by the… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
I can't write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
Maybe you play a melody twice. You play it once like you like it, and some parts that you don't like you… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
Dave [Holland] plays the way he wants to play. And it's usually what's needed. You know, Dave is such a deep thinker.… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
You'd be surprised. Drummers ape each other. The way every rock n' roll record sounds like something else but not all together.… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
Somebody, my daughter or my wife, gave me a music box for Christmas. It plays "My Funny Valentine" on celeste, you know?… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
That was my gift . . . having the ability to put certain guys together that would create a chemistry and then… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
The reason [drummers] call things "unison", and they sound unison, is because you actually play two different tempos . . . like… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
I don't hold it against Dizzy [Gillespie], you know, but if a guy wants to play a certain way, you work towards… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
See, if you put a musician in a place where he has to do something different from what he does all the… — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
You ever hear Buddy Miles play the drums? You know, he doesn't vary the tempo at all. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
The way you change and help music is by tryin' to invent new ways to play — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
When the band plays fast, you play slow; when the band plays slow, you play fast. — Miles Davis Copy Share Image
I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or… — Miles Davis Copy Share
You have to practice for a long time before you can learn to sound like yourself — Miles Davis Copy Share
I began to realize that some of the things Ornette Coleman had said about things being played three or fours ways, independently of each… — Miles Davis Copy Share
...people will go for anything they don't understand if it's got enough hype. They want to be hip, want always to be in on… — Miles Davis Copy Share
My father's rich, my momma's good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I've never suffered and don't intend to suffer. — Miles Davis Copy Share
I'm out there doing the best that I can, My lip is cut and I'm still playing. — Miles Davis Copy Share
When I'm playing, I'm never through. It's unfinished. I like to find a place to leave for someone else to finish it. That's where… — Miles Davis Copy Share
![“I can't write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords and stuff for him to play in one bar. I can write for other people, but I don't never write for myself.” quote by Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/2ea/miles-davis-1842_bars_i-can-t-write-anything-for-myself-i-can_3007181.jpg)
![“Dave [Holland] plays the way he wants to play. And it's usually what's needed. You know, Dave is such a deep thinker. You can't tell him too much, else it might spoil his spirit, you know.” quote by Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/a48/miles-davis-1842_dave_dave-holland-plays-the-way-he-wants-to-p_3007407.jpg)
![“Somebody, my daughter or my wife, gave me a music box for Christmas. It plays "My Funny Valentine" on celeste, you know? So I had Bobby [Irving] just play "Jean Pierre" with the changes on celeste.” quote by Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/575/miles-davis-1842_boxes_somebody-my-daughter-or-my-wife-gave-me_863480.jpg)
![“The reason [drummers] call things "unison", and they sound unison, is because you actually play two different tempos . . . like you're a little sharp, or a little flat; it's so slight that they call it "unison", but it's not unison.” quote by Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/78b/miles-davis-1842_different_the-reason-drummers-call-things-unison-a_1636596.jpg)
![“I don't hold it against Dizzy [Gillespie], you know, but if a guy wants to play a certain way, you work towards that. If he stops - he's full of crap, you know. I mean, I wouldn't do it, for no money, or for no place in the white man's world. Not just to make money, because then you don't have…” quote by Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/aed/miles-davis-1842_apes_i-don-t-hold-it-against-dizzy-gillespie_1460081.jpg)
