Jazz Quotes

1344 Jazz quotes by 630 unique authors

Jazz demands that you bring to it things that are valuable to you, that are personal to you. — Pat Metheny
Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that. — Pat Metheny
People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a Jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds. — Pat Metheny
Smokin' at the Half Note is the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play. — Pat Metheny
I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is — Pat Metheny
As my career has progressed, I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest jazz cats on the planet. But that doesn't change my desire… — George Benson
Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him. — Nigel Kennedy
I could do without 'cool' publications calling me 'mom jazz.' But I laughed all the way to the bank, baby. — Norah Jones
I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like… — Warren G. Bennis
There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation. — David Antin
The old jazz singers or old blues singers, you always just saw them kind of sitting down and singing. They weren't worried as much about… — Lucinda Williams
My baby lives in shades of blue, blue eyes and jazz and attitude. — Lana Del Rey
People ask me: ‘What is punk? How do you define punk?' Here's how I define punk: It's a free space. It could be called jazz.… — Ian MacKaye
At this time the fashion is to bring something to jazz that I reject. They speak of freedom. But one has no right, under pretext… — Thelonious Monk
Everybody in all countries tries to play jazz. — Thelonious Monk
It’s like a language. You learn the alphabet, which are the scales. You learn sentences, which are the chords. And then you talk extemporaneously with… — Stan Getz
I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be... — Stan Getz
Switch to piano! No. Really, if you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it's like the human voice. Of course,… — Stan Getz
Jazz is not just 'Well, man, this is what I feel like playing.' It's a very structured thing that comes down from a tradition and… — Wynton Marsalis
The first jazz musician was a trumpeter, Buddy Bolden, and the last will be a trumpeter, the archangel Gabriel. — Wynton Marsalis
As long as there is democracy, there will be people wanting to play jazz because nothing else will ever so perfectly capture the democratic process… — Wynton Marsalis
New Orleans had a great tradition of celebration. Opera, military marching bands, folk music, the blues, different types of church music, ragtime, echoes of traditional… — Wynton Marsalis
Louis Armstrong is jazz. He represents what the music is all about. — Wynton Marsalis
Blues is like the roux in a gumbo. People ask me if jazz always has the blues in it. I say, if it sounds good… — Wynton Marsalis
Jazz is the false liquidation of art - instead of utopia becoming reality it disappears from the picture. — Theodor Adorno

Who Wrote These Jazz Quotes

630 authors contributed a total of 1,344 Jazz Quotes, led by these top contributors: