--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is…" description: "\"Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him.\" — Nigel Kennedy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg" --- # Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz… ![“Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him.” quote by Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg) > “Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him.” [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bach’s mastery of harmony makes him a favorite among jazz musicians who value complex chord progressions and improvisational freedom. **In simple terms:** Bach’s harmony appeals to jazz.. Key Takeaway Explore harmonic depth in your music. Themes music jazz history technique Mood appreciative inquisitive Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - jazz improvisation - music education - composition workshops - recording sessions - concert programming Key Concepts harmony improvisation genre influence legacy Questions to Reflect On - How does Bach influence your improvisation? - What harmonic techniques from Bach can you apply today? A Different Perspective Jazz may reinterpret Bach differently; some may find his style too rigid. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Cats love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats-love/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) ## Related quotes > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-benson/as-my-career-has-progressed-i-ve-had-the-pleasure-of-playing-with-the/) [George Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-benson/) > [I've had the pleasure of playing with the baddest Jazz cats on the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-benson/i-ve-had-the-pleasure-of-playing-with-the-baddest-jazz-cats-on-the/) [George Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-benson/) > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Maybe it's egocentric or whatever, but when I'm playing Beethoven, Bach, Hendrix, or whoever it is, in the end, it just feels like my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/maybe-it-s-egocentric-or-whatever-but-when-i-m-playing-beethoven-bach/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I think Bach is equally a romantic composer because he laid the seeds harmonically for people like Chopin and the great Romantics, Brahms, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-think-bach-is-equally-a-romantic-composer-because-he-laid-the-seeds/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I see it as my job to try to keep Bach in the mainstream and present his music with, rather than without, its emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-see-it-as-my-job-to-try-to-keep-bach-in-the-mainstream-and-present/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Menuhin was playing Bach on a fantastic spiritual level when he was a teenager.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/menuhin-was-playing-bach-on-a-fantastic-spiritual-level-when-he-was-a/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [“The realest of cats love with all of their being...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/the-realest-of-cats-love-with-all-of-their-being/) Will Advise > [I love cats. I love their grace and their elegance. I love their independence and their arrogance, and the way they lie and look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-stranger/i-love-cats-i-love-their-grace-and-their-elegance-i-love-their/) Joyce Stranger > [ We love cats more than we love women \[with Marilyn Manson\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/we-love-cats-more-than-we-love-women-with-marilyn-manson/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [I love my cats more than I love most people. Probably more than is healthy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-lee/i-love-my-cats-more-than-i-love-most-people-probably-more-than-is/) [Amy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-lee/) > [Dont cry. I'll always be here to hold you(;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-cry-i-ll-always-be-here-to-hold-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Cats are love on four legs”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-torregrossa/cats-are-love-on-four-legs/) Richard Torregrossa > [“The best about cats is they love cannot feign...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/the-best-about-cats-is-they-love-cannot-feign/) Will Advise > [“Cats love to sleep softly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theocritus/cats-love-to-sleep-softly/) [Theocritus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theocritus/) ## More by Nigel Kennedy > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [The Four Seasons was making me popular in Britain, but EMI America had no interest in making that happen in the States, so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/the-four-seasons-was-making-me-popular-in-britain-but-emi-america-had/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Even if you're playing Brahms or a Beethoven concerto, you've got to have a different vantage point, slightly, each time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/even-if-you-re-playing-brahms-or-a-beethoven-concerto-you-ve-got-to/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [The Beatles are a classical group because they're classic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/the-beatles-are-a-classical-group-because-they-re-classic/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [You can't learn pathos or profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/you-can-t-learn-pathos-or-profundity/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Menuhin was playing Bach on a fantastic spiritual level when he was a teenager.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/menuhin-was-playing-bach-on-a-fantastic-spiritual-level-when-he-was-a/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I hate complacency. I play every gig as if it could be my last, then I enjoy it more than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-hate-complacency-i-play-every-gig-as-if-it-could-be-my-last-then-i/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I've learnt new scales through playing different types of music, like Indian raga scales, gipsy scales and harmonically-based jazz scales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-ve-learnt-new-scales-through-playing-different-types-of-music-like/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Why would you want to stand there waving a stick when you could be playing an instrument?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/why-would-you-want-to-stand-there-waving-a-stick-when-you-could-be/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I think Bach is equally a romantic composer because he laid the seeds harmonically for people like Chopin and the great Romantics, Brahms, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-think-bach-is-equally-a-romantic-composer-because-he-laid-the-seeds/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [If you do the same thing every night, that's the death of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/if-you-do-the-same-thing-every-night-that-s-the-death-of-music/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [If you're not pushing your own technique to its own limits with the risk that it might just crumble at any moment, then you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/if-you-re-not-pushing-your-own-technique-to-its-own-limits-with-the/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [If you're playing within your capability, what's the point? If you're not pushing your own technique to its own limits with the risk that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/if-you-re-playing-within-your-capability-what-s-the-point-if-you-re/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I'm always improving and I want to get better and never hit a plateau. I find it an amazing adventure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/i-m-always-improving-and-i-want-to-get-better-and-never-hit-a-plateau/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Maybe it's egocentric or whatever, but when I'm playing Beethoven, Bach, Hendrix, or whoever it is, in the end, it just feels like my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/maybe-it-s-egocentric-or-whatever-but-when-i-m-playing-beethoven-bach/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) [Explore all 18 Nigel Kennedy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) ## More Bach quotes > [“Do you know what he told me after lying under a cliff for thirty six hours with two inches of his femur sticking out?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-percy/do-you-know-what-he-told-me-after-lying-under-a-cliff-for-thirty-six/) [Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-percy/) > [I listen to Bach a great deal. In general I like to listen to hymns and liturgical music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/i-listen-to-bach-a-great-deal-in-general-i-like-to-listen-to-hymns/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) > [Yes, I mean like you know, having studied with Yehudi Menuhin that is like some direct route into Bach, because he was one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/yes-i-mean-like-you-know-having-studied-with-yehudi-menuhin-that-is/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [I began to realize that some of the things Ornette Coleman had said about things being played three or fours ways, independently of each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-began-to-realize-that-some-of-the-things-ornette-coleman-had-said/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-roberts/whenever-you-study-composition-you-inevitably-encounter-bach-right/) [Howard Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-roberts/) > [Bernard Herrmann used to write all his scores by himself. So did Bach, Beethoven and Stravinsky. I dont understand why this happens in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ennio-morricone/bernard-herrmann-used-to-write-all-his-scores-by-himself-so-did-bach/) [Ennio Morricone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ennio-morricone/) > [“The way we define opera circa 1700 may help us to throw light not just on the choices facing Bach and his brilliant peer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eliot-gardiner/the-way-we-define-opera-circa-1700-may-help-us-to-throw-light-not/) [John Eliot Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eliot-gardiner/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [In Bach there is still too much crude Christianity, crude Germanism, crude scholasticism; he stands on the threshold of European (modern) music, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-bach-there-is-still-too-much-crude-christianity-crude-germanism/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I used to listen to a lot of Bach on the radio, and when the basses started to sing, it made everything complete -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-used-to-listen-to-a-lot-of-bach-on-the-radio-and-when-the-basses/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [The music of Bach is without doubt the most sacred gift to the world of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heitor-villa-lobos/the-music-of-bach-is-without-doubt-the-most-sacred-gift-to-the-world/) Heitor Villa-Lobos > [“To wake up one day and be Steinway and Glen in One... Glen Steinway, Steinway Glen, all for Bach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/to-wake-up-one-day-and-be-steinway-and-glen-in-one-glen-steinway/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“You're the kind of child who might develop a passion for Bach." I told him I hadn't at school. The one Bach piece I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/you-re-the-kind-of-child-who-might-develop-a-passion-for-bach-i-told/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) Browse all 199 Bach quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nigel Kennedy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is-why-the-jazz-cats-love-him/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bach" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is-why-the-jazz-cats-love-him/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fb/nigel-kennedy-29256_cat_bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is_1896401.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Bach was a top harmonist geezer, which is why the jazz cats love him.” — Nigel Kennedy", "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": "Nigel Kennedy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Bach was a top harmonist geezer,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is-why-the-jazz-cats-love-him/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/bach-was-a-top-harmonist-geezer-which-is-why-the-jazz-cats-love-him/#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 } } ] } ```