Artie Shaw

Shoot for the moon. If you miss you’ll still end up in the stars.

An artist should write for himself and not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.

Somebody asked me once, ‘Do you think that swing will ever come back?’ And I said, ‘Do you think the 1938 Form will ever come back?’

I can’t understand these guys who just have to have your autograph. I asked one of them ‘What do you do when you get home, take it out and look at it?’

‘Swing’ is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a ‘swing band’ in music.

I can’t understand guys who just have to have your autograph. What do you do when you get home, take it out and look at it?

The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn’t be able to do that.

I have a nice car, a Mercedes. And then I have an old El Camino truck that I’m crazy about. I like to get in that truck and go up in the hills near where I live, in Vegas, and take my camera. That, to me, is Heaven, being out in nature, taking pictures of the wildlife.

I like an element of chaos in music. That feeling is the best thing ever.

One of the things I like about Jazz, kid, is I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Do you?

Jazz is there and gone. It happens. You have to be present for it. That simple.

A good player can make any instrument sound good.

It’s up to the individual to keep up with the times.

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

Art [Blakey] would take young people with a potential and help them develop a voice as a player and as a writer.

Damn it, when I’m bombastic, I have my reasons. I want to be bombastic: take it or leave it.

I don’t like to hear someone put down Dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.

This guitar is such a pal. It’s a psychiatrist. It’s a doggone bartender. It’s a housewife. This guy is everything. Whenever I find that I’ve got a problem, I’ll go pick my guitar up and play. It’s the greatest pal in the whole world.

I have younger friends who don’t work and they aren’t doing so well. My secret is to keep going, keep working.

Never lose the groove to find a note.

A Jazz performance centers upon the process of creation. The final objective is not only the finished product, but the path and process taken towards it.