Gil Evans

I never practice my guitar. From time to time I just open the case and throw in a piece of raw meat.

Breathe…. breathe a lot!

The expression of freedom that is Jazz improvisation mirrors the ethos of the best parts of society.

When we were at the Apollo, Holiday was a block away. I asked her for her autograph.

Jazz Improvisation means that practice is not as straightforward as it would be when you simply have a score to play.

Especially, I want my work-and the trios if possible-to sing.

I’ve seen myself on those lists of the 100 best guitarists, and if they think that I’m that good, thank them. Thank God for them. But I don’t think so.

The boppers flat their fifths. We consume ours.

When I sing, trouble can sit right on my shoulder and I don’t even notice.

I am very aware that so little has happened to the electric guitar from the time that it was conceived to now; where there are so little changes made where there should be drastic changes made. If we were to put our heads together and start thinking about modern technology we would be much more advantaged with the electric guitar than we are. I think that we’ve been stagnant for many years.

I like chords that are very lush with all the lush parts taken out.

I’ve always wanted a C trumpet on top, to have that same kind of facility without shouting.

All musicians stimulate each other. The vibrations get scattered around.

I always liked the steel guitar. I also love the guys that play the bottleneck. But I could never do it; I never made it do what I want. So every time I would pick up the guitar, I’d shake my hand and trill it a bit. For some strange reason my ears would say to me that sounds similar to what those guys were doing. I can’t pick up the guitar now without doing it. So that’s how I got into making my sound. It was nothing pretty. Just trying to please myself. I heard that sound.

Sometimes when you start losing detail, whether it’s in music or in life, something as small as failing to be polite, you start to lose substance.