Sonny Rollins Quotes

42 quotes in 604 categories

• I want to be connecting with the subconscious, if I can call it that, because there are not to many words to describe the real…
• I hate music. I wasted my life.
• What I am more concerned about is whether our whole civilization will be around in the next 25 years.
• We have to make ourselves as perfect as we can.
• The thing is this: When I play, what I try to do is to reach my subconscious level. I don't want to overtly think about…
• I'm not supposed to be playing, the music is supposed to be playing me. I'm just supposed to be standing there with the horn, moving…
• Many jazz artists go to L.A. seeking a more comfortable life and then they really stop playing.
• I think the problem starts with the general appreciation of the music in the larger society.
• It's all about creation and surprise. It just needs to be appreciated and watered like flowers. You have to water flowers. These peaks will come…
• But if I didn't have to make money, I would still play my horn.
• You had many jazz musicians who lived in the United States, who had a hard time being accepted over here and had to play in…
• I feel that L.A. has not always been my strongest base for support. That can be for various reasons.
• I'll know when I find the ultimate sound.
• I guess I'm fortunate that I'm still around and I emphasize 'I guess', because you never can tell what musicians would be playing had they…
• I think as long as people are around and can hear a record and hear people like Lester Young on a recording, there will always…
• I think we are in the midst of this period where we are committing this suicide on the planet and everybody is just using up…
• Even the most jingoistic person would have to admit that even American cultural music comes from Europe. That's what classical music is, real European music.
• Jazz has an audience all around the globe and has had for many decades, I think speaking of the United States, let's say that what…
• I think what we need is a more welcoming mode from the people who put on a hundred million country-western shows on television. How about…
• I have always been a person who is concerned with the dignity of jazz music and the way jazz musicians have been treated and are…

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