Carol Kaye

A movie and a stage show are two entirely different things. A picture, you can do anything you want. Change it, cut out a scene, put in a scene, take a scene out. They don’t do that on stage.

I don’t think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.

The inspired moment may sometimes be described as a kind of hallucinatory state of mind: one half of the personality emotes and dictates while the other half listens and notates. The half that listens has better look the other way, had better simulate a half attention only, for the half that dictates is easily disgruntled and avenges itself for too close inspection by fading entirely away.

If a Jazz musician plays someone else’s song, he has a responsibility to make a distinct and original statement.

The saxophone is an imperfect instrument, especially the tenor and soprano, as far as intonation goes. The challenge is to sing on an imperfect instrument that is outside of your body.

Blow your life through your horn.

I first fell in love with the piano, I knew it was me. I was dying to play.

I wrote “Pilot of My Destiny” because of my love of flying. The fact that my brother is a pilot inspired me to write it. I call him pilot. He calls me copilot.

Monk taught me more about music composition than anyone else on 52nd Street.

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

I am attracted to Jazz music for the idea of being in the moment and communicating to people spontaneously.

Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe I’m honest.

I write about moments, and I don’t make blanket statements about anything because no one has all the answers; nobody’s come up with a foolproof way to do anything when it comes to emotions.

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

Playing ‘bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.