Best 709 quotes in «jazz quotes» category

Certainly, jazz has become more of a niche, which is surprising, because it's our music. It's the national music of America.

Change is always happening. That's one of the wonderful things about Jazz music.

Charlie Parker lifted jazz music off the dance floor and into the stratosphere!

Clifford Brown was in the jazz circles considered to be probably the greatest trumpet player who ever lived.

Clouds float in the same pattern only once.

Coltrane was moving out of jazz into something else. And certainly Miles Davis was doing the same thing.

Coltrane would do what you'd get a Roland Pro Tools module to do but with a group of jazz musicians.

Coltrane, you cant play everything at once!

Comedy is the ultimate truth. Jazz is hitting the notes that that no one else would hit, and comedy is saying words that no one else would say.

Companies have to take risks to get new knowledge, in a manner similar to how jazz musicians take risks when they go after a new approach to a tune or a performance.

Composing is improvisation slowed down.

Damn it, when I'm bombastic, I have my reasons. I want to be bombastic-take it or leave it.

[David] Bowie went on to make best-selling music - funk, dance music, electronic music, while also being influenced by cabaret and jazz.

Day in, day out. That same old voodoo follows me about.

Dizzy, Duke and Charlie Parker were the greatest jazz legends of all time.

Diana Krall knocks me out. I like jazz and I like her simple approach.

Diplomacy is like jazz: endless variations on a theme.

Everybody in all countries tries to play jazz.

Don't believe that jazz about there's nothing you can do, "turn on and drop out, man" - because you've got to turn on and drop in, or they're going to drop all over you.

Europeans really provided many venues over there and hailed the jazz artists, and a lot of musicians went over there and stayed over there for a long time. A lot of them moved over there, lived over there, and died over there.

Don't be a perfectionist... leave that to the classical musicians.

Don t play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast.

Everybody came. Everybody came to the Cotton Club.

Every day when I sit down to play, I learn something new.

For me personally - because I do it myself - the scoring of a picture is fun. I edit the picture and when I've finished I go into my room and I have many many records - jazz, classical and popular music. And I have this all at my disposal. I don't have to get a composer.

Everything I've ever done was out of fear of being mediocre.

External instruments are only extensions of the biological instrument.

Flexibility is an essential part of Jazz. It's what gives Jazz music the ability to combine with all other types of music and not lose its identity.

For me jazz is kind of an extension of hip-hop. Kind of the sad thing is that a lot of jazz people just listen to jazz, and a lot of hip-hop people just listen to hip-hop, and there's not a lot of crossover, unfortunately.

For me, the main thing is spontaneity & taking chances.

Everything-everything-was communicated through the sound of the music. There were no other signals of any kind ever-no count-offs, head nods, spoken instructions...nothing.

For me, jazz will always be the soundtrack of the civil rights movement.

Fusion has been my nemesis.

Fortune ought to be a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master.

Free form jazz means absolutely nothing to me. Because there are no boundaries.

For years, Jazz At The Philharmonic albums were the only ones of their kind.

Frankie Randall is a consummate performer. He is an exquisite jazz pianist and wonderful singer. I had the great pleasure to work with him on the Dean Martin Show and I'm very proud to call him a friend!

Genius is a word too often tossed around in musical circles.

Growing up, I was very much interested in jazz music.

[Goodman] became famous (or notorious) for staring at a player he didn't like. It was called 'the ray' by his men.

Gospel music rhythms are not African in origin, although I know that's what the jazz experts say.

He would forget everybody's name, so everybody was called 'Pops'.

He didn't say nothing. He would just do things. He never said nothing or explained nothing. He just would do it and that was it. You were on your own. You had to be very independent being around John [Coltrane].

Here in England we live at a slower pace, have more time to enjoy things - like good jazz.

He sounded to me like he's supposed to be the savior of jazz. Sometimes people speak as though someone asked them a question. Well, no one asked him a question.

He's no Bill Clinton!

How do I know why Miles walks off the stage? Why don't you ask him? And besides, maybe we'd all like to be like Miles, and just haven't got the guts.

Historians in the future, in my opinion, will congratulate us on very little other than our clowning and our jazz.

I always say it's not my Arkestra, it belongs to some other force which wants certain things, to reach people.

I actually find a lot of parallels in jazz and cartooning.