Billy Eckstine

I’m not much on gimmicks. I never have been because they don’t last.

I’m glad I don’t have perfect pitch because it can drive you crazy.

If you want to be a musician, study your craft. Study music.

There are wonderful things in Jazz, the improvisation, the liveliness, the being at one with the audience.

External instruments are only extensions of the biological instrument.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.

It’s always Jazz. You can put a new dress on her, a new hat, but no matter what kind of clothes she’s the same old broad.

The emotional reaction is all that matters.

I think that it is important to try to sound like someone, especially early in your development.

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.

The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.

Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you. I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.

If you’re gonna sing meaningful songs, you have to be committed to living a life that backs that up.

You can cage the singer but not the song.

I don’t care if a dude is purple with green breath as long as he can swing.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

The Blues contain so much joy and sadness at the same time.