Music, of course, is what I hear and something that I more or less live by. It’s not an occupation or profession, it’s a compulsion.
A goal is a dream with a finish line.
Playing bop’ is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
Roaming through the jungle of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’, searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life of primitivity with the mind of a child and an unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats.
There is no art without intention.
It’s all music.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line.
Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.
My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.
By and large Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
A problem is a chance for you to do your best.
By and large, jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.
What does music mean to you? What would you do without music?
I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
Life has two rules: 1. Never quite 2. Always remember 1.
There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.
Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn’t want me to be too famous too young.
To keep a band together you simply need a gimmick. The gimmick I use is to pay them money.
I never had much interest in the piano until I realized that every time I played, a girl would appear on the piano bench to my left and another to my right.
If it sounds good and feels good, then it IS good!
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