Brian McKnight

I think I’d have to say my favorite IWC. They have been around for so long and the craftsmanship is top notch. A watch maker that has been in business over 100 years has to know what they are doing.

The guy comes up to the plate, there’s always a chance where he can get a grand slam and everybody forgets about all the times he missed.

There’s only one thing that everyone in this world has in common: whether you want to love somebody and you want to be loved in return.

I’ve been a jazz artist playing pop and R&B my entire career.

Very rarely artists come in on their own terms and get to do everything – whatever they want…it doesn’t really matter about talent in the beginning. Talent is what keeps you here, getting in the door is just about how you start in the music business.

When the label came to me to say, ‘would you like to do another record,’ I said, ‘Well I got these sixteen songs sitting here, so let’s do it.’ And that was pretty much it… I never stopped writing, it’s just the way that the business is now; you just try to find a different model.

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

I play whatever the hell comes out… that’s it.

An artist should write for himself and not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.

I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini.

You gotta mean it and you gotta treat it gentle.

Play what you feel, feel what you play.

And if I had a preference, it would be to be able to not be in the studio until 4 in the morning.

It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play.

It’s not that you want to sing, it’s that you have to sing.

When Hank Jones had his night off, I would get somebody to take my place as intermission pianist and I’d play the show with Ella, so I would get a chance to play with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as well.

I’m not claiming divinity. I’ve never claimed purity of soul. I’ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can… But I still believe in peace, love and understanding.

You’re just a little too hip for the room. It’s not good to be too hip because two hips make an ass.

My role as a drummer is as a team player to enhance what is going on around me.

There has always been a tension between Jazz as a commercial music and as an art form.

Musicians should never forget we’re blessed. We have a special gift that people enjoy through us.