Jazz Quotes

1344 Jazz quotes by 630 unique authors

Just because I'm playing Jazz I don't forget about me. I play or write me the way I feel through Jazz. — Charles Mingus
I don't have a definition of Jazz. You're just supposed to know it when you hear it. — Thelonious Monk
Jazz music is a style, not compositions; any kind of music may be played in Jazz if one has the knowledge. — Jelly Roll Morton
It is evidently known, beyond contradiction, that New Orleans is the cradle of Jazz and I, myself, happened to be the creator in the year… — Jelly Roll Morton
The wonderful thing about Jazz is its willingness to take chances. — Madeleine Peyroux
Jazz is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. — Unknown Author
Music represents nature. Nature represents life. Jazz represents nature. Jazz is life. — Sonny Rollins
I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music. — Sonny Rollins
Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate in order to get the most out of it. You must absorb it. — Horace Silver
Jazz is not just music, it's a way of life, it's a way of being, a way of thinking. — Nina Simone
Jazz will endure just as long people hear it through their feet instead of their brains. — John Philip Sousa
Jazz is America's classical music. — Billy Taylor
Jazz is very much alive. Everywhere I go there's a new generation of musicians playing Jazz music. — Toots Thielemans
Jazz came to America three hundred years ago in chains. — Paul Whiteman
Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind. — Mary Lou Williams
I'm always looking for ways to develop as a Jazz artist, to find different ways of using my voice. — Cassandra Wilson
I cringed when I heard myself described as a Jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a Jazz vocalist. — Cassandra Wilson
Jazz musicians have some outlaw in them somewhere. — Unknown Author
One thing I like about jazz, kid, is that I don't know what's going to happen next. Do you? — Bix Beiderbecke
Jazz is improvisation and syncopation, with resilience and flow, with earthy elegance, nuance and subtlety, with the integrity of individual expression within (usually) a group… — Greg Thomas

Who Wrote These Jazz Quotes

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