---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Jazz, I mean, music will always move…"
description: "\"Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's like a river, it'll kill us all. It has to..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png"
---

#  Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't…

![“Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's like a river, it'll kill us all. It has to keep moving, music will always flow.” quote by Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png)

> “Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's like a river, it'll kill us all. It has to keep moving, music will always flow.”

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He likens stagnant music to a dead river, emphasizing constant movement and flow.

**In simple terms:** Music must keep moving or die.

Key Takeaway

Foster continual evolution in artistic expression.

Themes

music creativity flow stagnation

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

philosophical musical

When to use this quote

- improvisation
- composition
- live gigs

Key Concepts

river metaphor continuous change

Questions to Reflect On

- How does stagnation affect listeners?
- What practices keep music alive?

A Different Perspective

May ignore the value of tradition.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/)

## Related quotes

> [Sometimes I see players that think, and you can tell they're thinking of the next phrase to play or the next thing to do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonny-sharrock/sometimes-i-see-players-that-think-and-you-can-tell-they-re-thinking/)

Sonny Sharrock

> [My hope is to continue to make new music and go with the flow. I think I'll always be creative. I want to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-joy/my-hope-is-to-continue-to-make-new-music-and-go-with-the-flow-i-think/)

[Vance Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-joy/)

> [I dance as best I can. I try to let the music flow freely through my legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/borns/i-dance-as-best-i-can-i-try-to-let-the-music-flow-freely-through-my/)

[Borns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/borns/)

> [I admire Aphex Twin. His ability to make moving music while still challenging the listener - his attention to detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-g/i-admire-aphex-twin-his-ability-to-make-moving-music-while-still/)

[Alex G](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-g/)

> [Dancing is moving to the music without stepping on anyone's toes, pretty much the same as life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/dancing-is-moving-to-the-music-without-stepping-on-anyone-s-toes/)

[Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/)

> [Mixtapes have always been a guerrilla-style means of moving music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chance-the-rapper/mixtapes-have-always-been-a-guerrilla-style-means-of-moving-music/)

[Chance The Rapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chance-the-rapper/)

> [The music that I've made in the past has had strong contemporary country roots, but I think moving on in music, I will branch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennette-mccurdy/the-music-that-i-ve-made-in-the-past-has-had-strong-contemporary/)

[Jennette McCurdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennette-mccurdy/)

> [Our mothers and grandmothers ... moving to music not yet written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-walker/our-mothers-and-grandmothers-moving-to-music-not-yet-written/)

[Alice Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-walker/)

> [Christ is not a reservoir but a spring. His life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-b-simpson/christ-is-not-a-reservoir-but-a-spring-his-life-is-continual-active/)

[A. B. Simpson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-b-simpson/)

> [“Anxiety always originates from a lie. All lies, whether self generated or accepted from another person, will resonate as a pendulum swinging to and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bravandt/anxiety-always-originates-from-a-lie-all-lies-whether-self-generated/)

[Deborah Bravandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bravandt/)

> [...start thinking of yourself as an artist and your life as a work-in-progress. Works-in-progress are never perfect. But changes can be made...Art evolves. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/start-thinking-of-yourself-as-an-artist-and-your-life-as-a-work-in/)

[Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/)

> [There are houses in certain provincial towns whose aspect inspires melancholy, akin to that called forth by sombre cloisters, dreary moorlands, or the desolation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/there-are-houses-in-certain-provincial-towns-whose-aspect-inspires/)

[Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/)

> [Who says history is stagnant? For a historian, facts do not change; it is the way we look at things, our interpretations, that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/who-says-history-is-stagnant-for-a-historian-facts-do-not-change-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Deflation means a slowdown of income growth. Markets shrink, new capital investment and employment also taper off, so wages decline. That is what's happening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/deflation-means-a-slowdown-of-income-growth-markets-shrink-new/)

[Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/)

> [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/)

[William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/)

## More by Art Blakey

> [They say that Jazz is back, and I don't think it's gone anywhere. But they say it's back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/they-say-that-jazz-is-back-and-i-don-t-think-it-s-gone-anywhere-but/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [Music is supposed to wash away the dust of everyday life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/music-is-supposed-to-wash-away-the-dust-of-everyday-life/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [There's nothing wrong with it. It's only a word. What's in a name? Nothing! Cats say, "Call me Muhammed so-and-so. "](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-it-it-s-only-a-word-what-s-in-a-name/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [Jazz washes away the dust of every day life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-washes-away-the-dust-of-every-day-life/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [If you feel like tapping your feet, tap your feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/if-you-feel-like-tapping-your-feet-tap-your-feet/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that's it. No America, no jazz. I've seen people try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-is-known-all-over-the-world-as-an-american-musical-art-form-and/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [It takes an intelligent ear to listen to Jazz.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/it-takes-an-intelligent-ear-to-listen-to-jazz/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [Music washes away the dust of every day life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/music-washes-away-the-dust-of-every-day-life/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [ The people know more about \[Jazz\] in other countries than in America. America is the last country to know about anything, because we're too… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/the-people-know-more-about-jazz-in-other-countries-than-in-america/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [That.s what Jazz music is all about.We started the Messengers because somebody had to mind the store for jazz.No America--no Jazz. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/that-s-what-jazz-music-is-all-about-we-started-the-messengers-because/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [You can't seperate modern jazz from rock or from rhythm and blues - you can't seperate it. Because that's where it all started, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/you-can-t-seperate-modern-jazz-from-rock-or-from-rhythm-and-blues-you/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [“Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-washes-away-the-dust-of-everyday-life/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [So go on and play, and if you make a mistake, make it loud so you won't make it next time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/so-go-on-and-play-and-if-you-make-a-mistake-make-it-loud-so-you-won-t/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [A name doesn't make the music. It's just called that to differentiate it from other types of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/a-name-doesn-t-make-the-music-it-s-just-called-that-to-differentiate/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

> [What ever truth drops on it eventually grinds to a powder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/what-ever-truth-drops-on-it-eventually-grinds-to-a-powder/)

[Art Blakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

[Explore all 19 Art Blakey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/)

## More Flow quotes

> [Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cameron/humanitarian-goods-and-people-must-flow-in-both-directions-gaza/)

[David Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cameron/)

> [Memory is funny. Once you hit a vein the problem is not how to remember but how to control the flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tobias-wolff/memory-is-funny-once-you-hit-a-vein-the-problem-is-not-how-to/)

[Tobias Wolff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tobias-wolff/)

> [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/)

[Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/)

> [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/)

[J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/)

> [I take the seashell from my jeans pocket and rub my fingers across its silken, indented surface, shallow as my own open hand. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kenison/i-take-the-seashell-from-my-jeans-pocket-and-rub-my-fingers-across/)

[Katrina Kenison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kenison/)

> [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/)

[Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/)

> [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/)

[Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/)

> [“When we strike a balance between the challenge of an activity and our skill at performing it, when the rhythm of the work itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariel-gore/when-we-strike-a-balance-between-the-challenge-of-an-activity-and-our/)

[Ariel Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariel-gore/)

> [When we fall utterly, something gathers us up. But our falling must be without reservation, without expectation, without hope, though not hopeless. You cant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-housden/when-we-fall-utterly-something-gathers-us-up-but-our-falling-must-be/)

[Roger Housden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-housden/)

> [I have this belief about things happening organically. I believe life has this organic flow in a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naoko-mori/i-have-this-belief-about-things-happening-organically-i-believe-life/)

Naoko Mori

> [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/david-rockefeller-is-the-most-conspicuous-representative-today-of-the/)

[Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/)

> [The tides which flow and lapse in the Bristol Channel are often distained by the freshets of many streams falling through wooded coombes below…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-williamson/the-tides-which-flow-and-lapse-in-the-bristol-channel-are-often/)

[Henry Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-williamson/)

> [“Life is a flow which we can either resist or go with it gracefully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tonmoy-acharjee/life-is-a-flow-which-we-can-either-resist-or-go-with-it-gracefully/)

Tonmoy Acharjee

> [What a strange power the perception of beauty is! It seems to ebb and flow like some secret tide, independent alike of health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-benson/what-a-strange-power-the-perception-of-beauty-is-it-seems-to-ebb-and/)

[A. C. Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-benson/)

[Browse all 3,282 Flow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's like a river, it'll kill us all. It has to keep moving, music will always flow.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Art Blakey"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-because-it-can-t-become-stagnant/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Flow"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-because-it-can-t-become-stagnant/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d72/art-blakey-28913_flow_jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-becau_2383588.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Jazz, I mean, music will always move, because it can't become stagnant. Because if it becomes stagnant, it's…” — Art Blakey",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Art Blakey",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/art-blakey/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Jazz, I mean, music will always...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-because-it-can-t-become-stagnant/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/art-blakey/jazz-i-mean-music-will-always-move-because-it-can-t-become-stagnant/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
