Oliver Nelson

Those who were seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music.

The joy of music should never be interrupted by a commercial.

Play what you know and then play above that.

Music is the tool to express life – and all that makes a difference.

I didn’t know the right names for anything at first, but I knew what knocked me out. Changes… man I dug.

Life is not about finding our limitations, it’s about finding our infinity.

I went back and listened to the first three albums I made and tried to figure out what was special about them, why people keep going back to them. I think it was because I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no idea if they were going to play it on the radio or anything. All I did was write songs, so that’s what I got back to.

Music can’t save the world, but can make one a little calmer.

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.

What I came back to is that jazz is a music to be played and not to be intellectualized on.

We’re not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour.

If you got up on the bandstand at Minton’s and couldn’t play, you might get your ass kicked.

Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.

I’m very shy, and I shy away from people. But the moment I hit the stage, it’s a different feeling I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it’s because it’s something I love to do.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.