Herbie Hancock

I think I was supposed to play Jazz.

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

The spirit of Jazz is the spirit of openness.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission that goes far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

It’s not exclusive, but inclusive, which is the whole spirit of jazz.

Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.

May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.

I think I was supposed to play Jazz.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

In a way, I started out to be a baritone player.

When I was coming up, I practiced all the time because I thought if I didn’t I couldn’t do my best.

Instrumental music is increasingly marginalized.

Jazz musician is a combination entertainer, poet, singer, educator, student, artist, seducer and all-round good fellow.

To keep creating you have to be about change.

You can’t seperate modern jazz from rock or from rhythm and blues – you can’t seperate it. Because that’s where it all started, and that’s where it all come from – that’s where I learned to keep rhythm – in church.

I went through a lot of mental pains and anguish about choosing between jazz and classical. I realized that where I functioned was where I should be, and where I functioned was in jazz, so that was it.

Most of the soloists at Birdland had to wait for Parker’s next record in order to find out what to play next. What will they do now?

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

Jazz isn’t a what, it’s a how.

Music always turns into music. As soon as I play a key, push a key down, there’s no theory any more. When I go and I hear a sound on the keyboard, all theories go out the window.

You’ve heard me call myself a bluesman and a blues singer. I call myself a blues singer, but you ain’t never heard me call myself a blues guitar man. Well, that’s because there’s been so many can do it better’n I can, play the blues better’n me. I think a lot of them have told me things, taught me things.