Wayne Shorter

Clouds float in the same pattern only once.

A series of vibrations. What does it matter, the source of the catalyst?

Music should not have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that is required to sound like jazz.

You know the actor John Garfield? In one movie he walked up to this train station, the ticket booth, and the guy says, ‘Yes, where are you going?’ And he says, ‘I want a ticket to nowhere.’ I thought: that’s it. The freedom to do that. I want a ticket to nowhere.

Music is interior decoration.

The word “jazz” means to me no category, but when you get stuck into wanting to do something the way it was with the “jazz emblem” or logo chained around your neck, you play in a frozen moment in time and you keep fermenting the ‘fifties saying jazz should be this way or that. Well, if jazz to me means no category, then I’ve got the green light And if it sounds like.. sounds like.. sounds like, and keeps crossing over, it’s what I wanted to do in the first place. I like the way Stravinsky and those guys did things. They expressed something, if not themselves. In fact, some people talk about expression, but expression really doesn’t mean anything to me because there’s a lot of work which goes into building a drama and then it’s up to other people to offer “expression.” Expression is such a nebulous thing.

Jazz is played from the heart. You can even live by it. Always love it.

You can’t copy anybody and end up with anything. If you copy, you’re working without any real feeling.

The way I feel today, as long as my health is good and I can handle myself well and people still come to my concerts, still buy my CDs, I’ll keep playing until I feel like I can’t.

Music is what I hear and something that I live by.

What’s tied Jazz together is its foundation in the Blues, a reliance on group interplay and the unique phenomenon of spontaneous improvisation.

The true musician plays what he/she hears. That cannot be a mistake.

Jazz is a beautiful woman whose older brother is a policeman.

Apparently Jazz is now considered high art and the average person has trouble understanding it.

Those who wish to sing, always find a song.

I sing like I feel.

You can’t go to the store and buy a good ear and rhythm.

Music doesn’t have to hop to be hip, as long as it swings it sings.

I don’t know anything about music. In my line you don’t have to.

I like people who have worked long and hard, developing through introspection and dedication.

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.