Coltrane, you cant play everything at once!

I think we've all had enough of Coltrane saxophonists. There's a case of someone ruining a generation of saxophonists, as Louis Armstrong may have…

— Paul Bley

John [Coltrane] was like a visitor to this planet. He came in peace and he left in peace; but during his time here, he…

— Albert Ayler

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…

— Miles Davis

In short, [Coltrane's] tone is beautiful because it is functional. In other words, it is always involved in saying something. You can't separate the…

— Cecil Taylor

My dad would play me all of these records: Miles Davis records, John Coltrane records, Bill Evans records, a lot of jazz records. My…

— Eldar Djangirov

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

At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks too Duke Ellington.

— Miles Davis

The music has gotten thick. Guys give me tunes and they're full of chords. I can't play them...I think a movement in jazz is…

— Miles Davis

He sounded to me like he's supposed to be the savior of jazz. Sometimes people speak as though someone asked them a question. Well,…

— Miles Davis

I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands.

— Miles Davis

If you're trying to be hip, be hip.

— Miles Davis

...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

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

I listened to King Oliver and I listened to Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Archie Shepp... I listened…

— Eric Clapton

For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.

— Cornel West