--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Jazz is for joy. It's for euphoria, it's…" description: "\"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, and if it loses that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg" --- # Jazz is for joy. It's for euphoria, it's for emotion, and… ![“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, and if it loses that, then it's lost everything.” quote by Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg) > “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, and if it loses that, then it's lost everything.” [Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Jazz embodies the full spectrum of human feeling, from joy to anguish; losing that emotional depth empties the art. **In simple terms:** Jazz is all emotion; without it, it's empty. Key Takeaway Preserve emotional depth in music. Themes joy emotion anguish excitement art Mood passionate reflective Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - concert performance - music education - creative composition - personal listening Key Concepts Aesthetic expression emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - How does emotional intensity affect your appreciation of jazz? - Can music be great without strong feeling? A Different Perspective If technical perfection outweighs feeling, music can become sterile. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Euphoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euphoria/) [Euphoria Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/euphoria-emotion-5510062/) [Excitement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excitement/) [Great art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-art/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [Jazz Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz-joy-5510061/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Joy Euphoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy-euphoria-5510063/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [“We are sometimes dragged into a pit of unhappiness by someone else’s opinion that we do not look happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/we-are-sometimes-dragged-into-a-pit-of-unhappiness-by-someone-else-s/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The universe seems to me infinitely strange and foreign. At such a moment I gaze upon it with a mixture of anguish and euphoria;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eug-ne-ionesco/the-universe-seems-to-me-infinitely-strange-and-foreign-at-such-a/) [Eugene Ionesco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eug-ne-ionesco/) > [All great art, and today all great artlessness, must appear extreme to the mass of men, as we know them today. It springs from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-trocchi/all-great-art-and-today-all-great-artlessness-must-appear-extreme-to/) [Alexander Trocchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-trocchi/) > [You've got this amazing creature- yourself- that can breathe, dance, and cry. And you have a certain amount of moments (maybe a few million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-ward-harrison/you-ve-got-this-amazing-creature-yourself-that-can-breathe-dance-and/) [Sabrina Ward Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-ward-harrison/) > [I always tell people that I have never ever gone dancing in my life. But that's the point. It's the point of dreaming of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/memory-tapes/i-always-tell-people-that-i-have-never-ever-gone-dancing-in-my-life/) [Memory Tapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/memory-tapes/) > [Right there is the usefulness of migraine, there in that imposed yoga, the concentration on the pain. For when the pain recedes, ten or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/right-there-is-the-usefulness-of-migraine-there-in-that-imposed-yoga/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [In an age of abstract experience, fornication Is self-expression, adjunct to Christian euphoria, And whores become delinquents; delinquents, patients; Patients, wards of society. Whores,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/in-an-age-of-abstract-experience-fornication-is-self-expression/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Indeed, bull markets are fueled by successive waves of prior skeptics finally capitulating as their fears fade. Eventually, fear turns to euphoria, and that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/indeed-bull-markets-are-fueled-by-successive-waves-of-prior-skeptics/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) > [“Ignorance might be bliss. But self-forgetfulness is pure ecstasy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/ignorance-might-be-bliss-but-self-forgetfulness-is-pure-ecstasy/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Pay attention to your goals and never let the euphoria of the early success convince you to brag about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/pay-attention-to-your-goals-and-never-let-the-euphoria-of-the-early/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [Given the nature of market, the chance of a crash is always greater than the chance of an overnight runaway euphoria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-yass/given-the-nature-of-market-the-chance-of-a-crash-is-always-greater/) [Jeff Yass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-yass/) > [“...she could go from a blissful euphoria to a desperate misery. She had no control over her emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-sheldon/she-could-go-from-a-blissful-euphoria-to-a-desperate-misery-she-had/) [Sidney Sheldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-sheldon/) > [“I hoped his last sensation was the euphoria. The peace. The love. I had to believe it was the love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffanie-debartolo/i-hoped-his-last-sensation-was-the-euphoria-the-peace-the-love-i-had/) [Tiffanie DeBartolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffanie-debartolo/) > [Reaching out to any fellow ghetto kids is an act he puts in the same category as doing drugs: the initial rush of warmth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-suskind/reaching-out-to-any-fellow-ghetto-kids-is-an-act-he-puts-in-the-same/) [Ron Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-suskind/) > [My motivational music is any music that helps me escape. There are certain records that take you to euphoria, when you're partying and havin'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pitbull/my-motivational-music-is-any-music-that-helps-me-escape-there-are/) [Pitbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pitbull/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [I can't get very excited about a musician who can do Art Tatum because I've got the Art Tatum records. I want to hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/i-can-t-get-very-excited-about-a-musician-who-can-do-art-tatum/) [Gary Giddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/) [Explore all 22 Gary Giddins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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, and if it loses that, then it's lost everything.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gary Giddins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b39/gary-giddins-25694_anguish_jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-f_694289.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Jazz is for joy. It's for euphoria, it's for emotion, and anguish, and excitement, and all of the joys that…” — Gary Giddins", "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": "Gary Giddins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-giddins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Jazz is for joy. It's for...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-giddins/jazz-is-for-joy-it-s-for-euphoria-it-s-for-emotion-and-anguish-and/#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 } } ] } ```