I had a really good time in New Orleans, although I had some very tragic times in Baton Rouge. Some guys beat me up and threw my horn away. ‘Cause I had a beard, then, and long hair like the Beatles.
Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night, but differently each time.
I didn’t need to worry about keys, chords, melody if I had that emotion that brought tears and laughter to people’s hearts.
Dog spelled backward is God. That’s pretty heavy.
We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; weve forgotten that we all still have diapers on. Weve separated music from life.
Difference between sex and love? Well, you’re not always sure you’re in love. But when you’re having sex, there’s really no mistaking it.
I don’t really live like a musician myself. I think music is just something that I do, but I’d like to be doing lots of other things. I like to cure all kinds of illness.
The human being receives the pleasure from music, not from the argument over what it is.
Musicians tell me, if what Im doing is right, they should never have gone to school.
Talk of God is most often in church. Is there a God outside of church? I hope so. But how should I know? How does anybody know?
It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something.
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 think that those elements – light and sound – are beyond democratic. They’re into the creative part of life.
I never thought about being famous or rich. I just thought, Oh, I’ll get a nice little girl and go and play every night, and I’d be happy. And that worked for a while. But the little girl’s mother didn’t trust a guy with a horn.
Music is a verb.
I asked my mother could I have an instrument. She said, ‘Well if you go out and save your money.’ So I went and got – I made me a shine box. I went out and started shining shoes, and I’d bring whatever I made.
I’ve had those people very interested in my writing. Since I think of myself as a composer, I feel really good. I’ve had lots of guys call me up. I’ve gotten two or three commissions to write things. I’ve written lots of movie scores.
Jazz is the only music in which the same note can be played night after night but differently each time.
It’s easier to copy someone else than to find out how to avoid sounding like someone else.
I wasn’t so interested in being paid. I wanted to be heard. That’s why I’m broke.
I don’t know what they’re thinking about. Just because someone says, ‘I like what you do’ or something: They might like it today and tomorrow they might not. I’ve had that experience with record companies.
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