Jazz Quotes · Page 101

In my music, I'm trying to play the truth of what I am.

— Charles Mingus

The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.

— Pat Metheny

I just can't stand it [jazz/rock]. It just doesn't sound right to me. It doesn't hit me...it doesn't get me...it just doesn't…

— Van Morrison

An artist should write for himself & not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.

— Artie Shaw

I played in rhumba bands, mickey mouse bands; all kinds of bands.

— Stan Getz

As my career has progressed, I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest jazz cats on the planet. But that doesn't…

— George Benson

I joined Count Basie's band to make a little money and to see the world. For two years I didn't see anything…

— Billie Holiday

There are a lot of things I'm proud of, but the proudest have yet to come.

— Barry Harris

The whole reason for Jazz at the Philharmonic was to take it to places where I could break down segregation.

— Norman Granz

I think myself, Jose James, and Robert Glasper are expanding the language - really reminding people that the umbrella of jazz is…

— Gregory Porter

All the jazz guys had interracial relationships, and even the ladies did. Over the years, interracial relationships have been a hip, almost…

— Quincy Jones

In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.

— Bonnie Raitt

Jazz is a word they use to sell our music, but to me that word does not exist.

— John Coltrane

It's not easy to play in a framework that requires simplicity and to tastefully find ways to interject the kind of freedom…

— Herbie Hancock

I'm very influenced by jazz drummers. I always liked drummers like Roger Taylor, Keith Moon, Ian Paice, John Densmore. I just learned…

— Steven Adler

Tim Price is one of the real ones ! A good friend and a great player !

— Phil Woods

I'm comfortable singing jazz. The only thing I was concerned about is that everybody, even in jazz, has their own style. To…

— Gladys Knight

I don't think I've ever been true to jazz. There's always a kind of jazz element to what I do. There are…

— Jamie Cullum

Normal adults can doodle, amble, and drift with no need to assess risk, since there is normally no risk at all. Jazz…

— Ernest Sosa

If you take 'Nothin' But a G Thang' by Dr Dre, that could also be an R&B record. 'Bonita Applebum' by A…

— Rza

Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread--without it, it's flat.

— Carmen McRae

I love all types of music. Jazz, classical, blues, rock, hip-hop. I often write scripts to instrumentals like a hip-hop artist. Music…

— Chadwick Boseman

Thelonius Monk was not exactly 'the guy next door'.

— Dexter Gordon

“She leaves my side and heads deeper into the apartment singing, “—if the spirit tries to hide, its temple far away… a…

— Nathan Reese Maher

I like to capture the spirit of what the writers intended but find my own nuances. That comes from jazz - the…

— Brian Stokes Mitchell