Jazz Quotes · Page 5

Let the music speak for itself.

— Roy Hargrove

You have to look good.

— Benny Goodman

I find my inspiration in myself.

— Thelonious Monk

I still got my Ferrari.

— Miles Davis

Only few will get the jazz.

— Anette Sandberg

I am a complete jazz nerd.

— Sam Amidon

I want to be the jazz singer.

— Kurt Elling

Jazz is a part of me.

— Kamasi Washington

All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.

— John Coltrane

The way I was singing the songs was jazz

— Van Morrison

What about a blues in W, in the key of W.

— Rahsaan Roland Kirk

When I got pretty good I went on the road with a group. We starved.

— Wes Montgomery

I don't believe in geniuses, I believe in hard work.

— Michel Petrucciani

I like to shop for old jazz albums.

— Ron Cephas Jones

To keep creating you have to be about change.

— Miles Davis

“Butterflies are but petals upon the sky.”

— Jazz Feylynn

In Europe, they like everything you do. The mistakes and everything. That's a little bit too much.

— Miles Davis

Life on the road is murder. It's as though life begins and ends when you have your horn in your mouth.

— Gerry Mulligan

Musicians have to suffer to a certain degree in order to obtain their outlet.

— Chico Hamilton

I wish you wouldn't make the strings such an important part of your arrangements because frankly they're only a tax dodge!

— Tommy Dorsey

There is a modern take on certain things you can do that, to me, is still jazz.

— Robert Glasper

Technically, I'm not a guitar player, all I play is truth and emotion.

— Jimi Hendrix

Say That! is an iron fist upside the mushy head of smooth jazz, and Grant Geissman's defiant declaration of independence.

— Bill Milkowski

I wasn't so interested in being paid. I wanted to be heard. That's why I'm broke.

— Ornette Coleman

For me jazz is kind of an extension of hip-hop. Kind of the sad thing is that a lot of jazz people…

— Jose James

[Manhattan School Of Music] were kind of just getting the jazz program up and going when I first started there. I was…

— Jon Gordon

I've purposely made my music to be challenging and different. There's some electronics, R&B, blues, Motown, country, jazz and lots of soul.

— Jack Garratt

Lars Ulrich is not a jazz drummer, but he grew up listening to jazz. Why? Because his father, Torben - an incredible…

— Robert Trujillo

If I was not a film-maker I'd probably be a musician. I like Kanye West, Jay-Z, R&B, classical, jazz and all kinds…

— Kasi Lemmons

Amy [Winehouse] changed pop music forever, I remember knowing there was hope, and feeling not alone because of her. She lived jazz,…

— Lady Gaga

Maybe a part of me recognized how right the improvising spirit of jazz is. Not the sounds, but the freedom to work…

— Jane Siberry

I'm interested in music, not in my image. If someone plays something fantastic, that I could never have thought of, it makes…

— Ornette Coleman

I don't get pat down, you know what's on the waist, I don't mean Jazz when I say I "count base." Fly…

— Sheek Louch

Liz [Gillies] doesn't really listen to anything new, besides Adele, Ariana Grande, and stuff like that. She loves '70s music and old…

— Denis Leary

We always talk about how everyone is unifocal. You can't possibly be interested in jazz and Beethoven. Of course you can. You…

— Harold Evans

The extent of his influence across jazz, across American music, and around the world has such continuing stature that he is one…

— Stanley Crouch

Barry Harris had a club called Jazz Cultural Theater and there were sessions there on a regular basis. I remember being there…

— Jon Gordon

Paul's One Way Out is a fresh, intelligently arranged, and satisfyingly complete telling of the lengthy (and unlikely) history of the group…

— Ashley Kahn

Jazz is so difficult. A lot of people think once they've learned these licks they can get up and play them for…

— Lester Bowie

“Today you go into make a modern recording with all this technology. The bass plays first, then the drums come in later,…

— Wynton Marsalis