Karrin Allyson

Jazz music is collective creativity.

The point of Jazz is, you do something and then you go on.

A wise man practices slowly; but a wiser man practices even slower.

I didn’t need to worry about keys, chords, melody if I had that emotion that brought tears and laughter to people’s hearts.

Music isn’t just learning notes and playing them. You learn notes to play the music of your soul.

I always make it a point to pick songs on which players really shine.

There’s a spiritual satisfaction that one gets from listening and playing good Jazz.

I don’t believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.

Find the best teachers, listen to the finest playing and try to emulate that. Be true to the music.

I wanted to sustain a note like a singer. I wanted to phrase a note like a saxist. By bending the strings, by trilling my hand – and I have big fat hands – I could achieve something that approximated a vocal vibrato. I could sustain a note. I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions. By fooling with the feedback between my amplifier and instrument, I started experimenting with sounds that expressed my feelings, whether happy or sad, bouncy or bluesy. I was looking for ways to let my guitar sing.

One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.

Don’t say Aretha is making a comeback, because I’ve never been away!

[on Django Reinhardt] By far the most astonishing guitar player ever … Django was quite superhuman, there’s nothing normal about him as a person or a player

Jazz amounts to Blues, your unique sound and the elusive genius of improvisation.