Jack Teagarden

I only knew classical music, which to me was the only true music. The only way I could survive at the bar was to mix the classical music with popular songs, and that meant I had to sing. What happened was that I discovered I had a voice plus the talent to mix classical music together with more popular songs, which at the time I detested.

Composing is a mindset, a part of who I am.

After I left Texas and went to California, I had a hard time getting anyone to play anything that I was writing, so I had to end up playing them myself. And that’s how I ended up just being a saxophone player.

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

Mozart tapped the source from which all music flows, expressing himself with a spontaneity and refinement and breathtaking rightness.

What a fool I am to think my breaking heart could kid the moon.

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory.

I don’t have a definition of Jazz. You’re just supposed to know it when you hear it.

The thing I always default to is that I’ll always be here to write songs.

What are you going to do when you love music? You can’t stop.

The more real you get, the more unreal everything else is.

All I play is truth and emotion.

Don’t bullshit, just play.

The more you listen, the more your hear.

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