Jazz  Quotes

• John Coltrane - "The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes."
• John Coltrane - "Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass."
• John Coltrane - "Through Dizzy & Bird I began to learn about musical structures & the more theoretical aspects of music."
• John Coltrane - "When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people."
• John Coltrane - "Being so inescapably a part of it, I'll never know what the listener gets, what the listener feels & that's too bad."
• Eddie Condon - "Beiderbecke took out a silver cornet, put it to his lips & blew a phrase. The sound came out like a girl saying 'yes.'"
• Ray Conniff - "If you believe in your art & you love what you do, that energy will go out & people will respond."
• Chick Corea - "Only play what you hear. If you don't hear anything, don't play anything."
• Chick Corea - "Art is a subject that is inundated with opinions. In fact, that's all it is about is opinions."
• Chick Corea - "The sound of the orchestra is one of the most magnificent musical sounds that has ever existed."
• Chick Corea - "The fact that an artist is experiencing the joy of creation makes me feel like we're in it together."
• Jim Croce - "If you dig it, do it. If you dig it a lot, do it twice."
• Bing Crosby - "I think pop music is one of the few things in the 20th century that have made giant strides in reverse."
• Bobby Darin - "It isn't true that you live only once. You only die once. You live lots of times if you know how."
• Debbie Davies - "When you are so strongly drawn to music, you can't "not" be a musician."
• Sammy Davis, Jr. - "I have to be a star like another man has to breathe."
• Miles Davis - "If you're trying to be hip, be hip."
• Miles Davis - "Music & life are all about style."
• Miles Davis - "Do not fear mistakes, there are none."
• Miles Davis - "Always look ahead, but never look back."
• Miles Davis - "I'll play it first & tell you what it is later."
• Miles Davis - "Don't play what's there, play what's not there."
• Miles Davis - "If you understood everything I say, you'd be me!"
• Miles Davis - "I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands."
• Miles Davis - "You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads."
• Miles Davis - "Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself."
• Miles Davis - "I don't care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing."
• Miles Davis - "I really liked Wynton when I first met him. He's still a nice young man, only confused."
• Miles Davis - "You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians."
• Miles Davis - "Bebop was about change, about evolution. It wasn't about standing still & being safe."
• Miles Davis - "If you got up on the bandstand at Minton's & couldn't play, you might get your ass kicked."
• Miles Davis - "So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It's over; it's on the record."
• Miles Davis - "I never thought Jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic."
• Miles Davis - "I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up in the morning & see the light. Then I'm grateful."
• Paul Desmond - "I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was."
• Paul Desmond - "I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini."
• Paul Desmond - "I would like to thank my father who discouraged me from playing the violin at an early age."
• Paul Desmond - "I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player & a special award in 1961 for quietness."
• Paul Desmond - "Qualities in music I consider most important are beauty, simplicity, originality, discrimination & sincerity."
• Bo Diddley - "I thank you in advance for the great round of applause I'm about to get."
• D C DowDell - "Play what you feel, feel what you play."
• D C DowDell - "Never play anything the same way once."
• D C DowDell - "The more you listen, the more your hear."
• D C DowDell - "Jazz - it takes passion to make it happen!"
• D C DowDell - "Jazz goes into my coffee in the morning, into my wine at night."
• D C DowDell - "Jazz has evolved with an inner necessity characteristic of any true art form."
• D C DowDell - "The jazziest American contribution to the vocabulary of English is Jazz itself."
• D C DowDell - "Learn the tunes by playing the masters, learn expression by playing yourself."
• D C DowDell - "Miles Davis & John Coltrane were so cool, if alive today global warming wouldn't be an issue."
• D C DowDell - "Jazz affirms the noblest aspirations of character, individual discipline, perseverance & innovation."
• D C DowDell - "The true value of this music lies in an artist's individual creativity & that unique process of expression which is Jazz."
• D C DowDell - "While many attempts have been made to define Jazz, what's the point really. Jazz is to be experienced - period."
• D C DowDell - "10% of musicians make 90% of the money, while the remaining 90% of musicians make the 10% that's left."
• D C DowDell - "Spontaneously composed music is a counterpoint that has its own rules based on a natural order and intuitive logic."
• D C DowDell - "While many forms of music may use the dynamic of improvisation, Jazz exemplifies the unique characteristic of collective improvisation."
• Vernon Duke - "Glittering crowds & shimmering clouds in canyons of steel."
• Billy Eckstine - "I'm not much on gimmicks. I never have been because they don't last."
• Billy Eckstine - "I'm glad I don't have perfect pitch because it can drive you crazy."
• Billy Eckstine - "You can't sing about love unless you know about it."
• Billy Eckstine - "If you want to be a musician, study your craft. Study music."