---
title: "1 Listening Jazz Quotes By Gary Giddins"
description: "1 Listening Jazz quotes by Gary Giddins. Plus more from Gary Giddins and more Listening Jazz sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/gary-giddins-25694_classic_even-my-colleagues-don-t-read-classic-cr_282889.jpg"
---

> [Even my colleagues don't read classic criticism. And my feeling is that if you don't do that then you're not really practicing your craft. That's how you learn how to do it. You don't learn how to write about jazz…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/even-my-colleagues-don-t-read-classic-criticism-and-my-feeling-is/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d53/gary-giddins-25694_classic_even-my-colleagues-don-t-read-classic-cr_282889.jpg)

## More by Gary Giddins

> [Even my colleagues don't read classic criticism. And my feeling is that if you don't do that then you're not really practicing your craft.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/even-my-colleagues-don-t-read-classic-criticism-and-my-feeling-is/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I'm a critic. That means you are a writer. So, yes, you have to make yourself an authority on whatever subject it's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-m-a-critic-that-means-you-are-a-writer-so-yes-you-have-to-make/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [You're writing for some version of yourself. You're writing the kinds of things that you like to read or wanted to read at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/you-re-writing-for-some-version-of-yourself-you-re-writing-the-kinds/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [One of the things I always underscore when I teach criticism is that young critics, or would be critics, frequently have this illusion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/one-of-the-things-i-always-underscore-when-i-teach-criticism-is-that/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Writing style is something is a consequence of who you are. I think that I had a certain propensity for a style that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/writing-style-is-something-is-a-consequence-of-who-you-are-i-think/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I think all of us begin as writers. I wanted to be a writer from the time I as eight, long before I heard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-think-all-of-us-begin-as-writers-i-wanted-to-be-a-writer-from-the/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Humility is a very important trait in a critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/humility-is-a-very-important-trait-in-a-critic/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [People should not feel intimidated by received wisdom. You have to discover it yourself. If I tell you that Armstrong is great, it's meaningless;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/people-should-not-feel-intimidated-by-received-wisdom-you-have-to/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [I hate the idea of turning jazz into homework assignments. I would never have a quiz saying, "Who's the clarinetist on the Hot Five?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-hate-the-idea-of-turning-jazz-into-homework-assignments-i-would/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Jazz is for joy. It's for euphoria, it's for emotion, and anguish, and excitement, and all of the joys that great art can produce,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Bing Crosby said that Armstrong is "the beginning and the end of music in America," and he wasn't far wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/bing-crosby-said-that-armstrong-is-the-beginning-and-the-end-of-music/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [Nobody knows where jazz is going, because nobody has ever known where jazz was going. I mean, you couldn't possibly predict the Swing Era…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/nobody-knows-where-jazz-is-going-because-nobody-has-ever-known-where/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [When I teach criticism, the first thing I say, and this sometimes pisses off younger - I mean, students, is that, opinions are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/when-i-teach-criticism-the-first-thing-i-say-and-this-sometimes/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [If you're genuinely candid and expressive then you're never wrong, even when you are wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/if-you-re-genuinely-candid-and-expressive-then-you-re-never-wrong/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

> [You've got to have a gimmick if your band sucks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/you-ve-got-to-have-a-gimmick-if-your-band-sucks/)

[Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/)

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