Bix Beiderbecke

Improvising musicians are musical travelers, voyagers. There is a freedom to wander the musical landscape.

Never play anything the same way twice.

I came from an era when we didn’t use electronic instruments. The bass wasn’t even amplified. The sound was the sound you got.

Well if I could play like Wynton, I wouldn’t play like Wynton.

True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today.

You only get better by playing.

[In 1969] I think lyrics have always been important to any serious writer of music.

The Blues is never old.

Playing the guitar is like telling the truth – you never have to worry about repeating the same [lie] if you told the truth. You don’t have to pretend, or cover up. If someone asks you again, you don’t have to think about it or worry about it because there it is. It’s you.

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny.

Jazz without the Blues is like BBQ without the sauce.

While many attempts have been made to define Jazz, what’s the point really. Jazz is to be experienced – period.

I’m still searching even today for a sound, like the guy that’s searching for a home. I haven’t been able to find that completely. I’m satisfied at times with the sound of my guitar… but it is a little sound that I hear but I can’t tell anybody about it. I don’t know how. But if I ever get it, I’ll know.

It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz.

Jazz has the ability to absorb and transform influences from diverse musical styles.