Yeah, it’s more like playing what you think is appropriate for the moment, not forcing any particular style.
There’s a way of playing safe and then there’s where you create something you haven’t created before.
Jazz musicians have some outlaw in them somewhere.
To play without passion is inexcusable.
I don’t consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can’t develop any further.
Jazz is a spectacularly accurate model of democracy and a look into our redemptive future possibilities.
There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven’t yet done.
People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a Jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.
What I look for in concert is a connection with the audience.
Music used to be essential and meaningful, but now it’s disposable.
We recorded to document ourselves, not to sell a lot of records.
Composers tend to assume that everyone loves music. Surprisingly enough, everyone doesn’t.
The time is now.
Django was the definitive genius on the guitar, and the depth of his gift was so spectacular.
I don’t want to sing anything that doesn’t come real.
The blues comes right back to a person’s feelings, to his daily activities in life. But rich people don’t know nothing about the blues, please believe me.
Some people try to get very philosophical and cerebral about what theyre trying to say with jazz. You dont need any prologues, you just play. If you have something to say of any worth then people will listen to you.
Three months. I was playing the organ for three months. It was a challenge for me in the beginning.
The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn’t know how other people would take it.
The high note is not the only thing.
Even if you have some brilliant jazz ideas, it’s going to be difficult to get them across unless you have 1-a distinctive sound or 2- a loud sound. These are musts.
