Billie Holiday

You can’t copy anybody and end with anything. If you copy, it means you’re working without any real feeling.

I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know

If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all

Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain.

If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all.

A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted.

To play without passion is inexcusable.

It’s not uncomfortable for me to be a sideman, but I feel more comfortable as a bandleader.

We really never know what we’re gonna play when we get on stage.

They’re singing your praises while stealing your phrases.

I listen to everything, I listen to all artists that come along.

Jazz music has always made powerful statements about freedom, creativity and personal identity.

I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message.

I’m not like a legend that – so I’m sort of in the middle in this sort of gray area where, you know, I’m creating music, and I’m not saying there isn’t an audience, because there is; because all of those people go out and spend $80 to $150 on a concert ticket.

I think pop music is one of the few things in the 20th century that have made giant strides in reverse.

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?

Women bring something different to an instrument if they are respectful of their feminine aesthetic.

The blues fitted in with the early 60s, the social way of life at the time.

I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy and Bird.

Vocalists must study music and know everything an instrumentalist needs to know.

I’ve always had a deep love of live performance, it’s when I feel most alive.