Buddy Rich

A musician starting out today should get a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument.

You only get better by playing.

I never believed in a set routine. It should depend on how you feel, because you play what you feel.

Jazz Improvisation means that practice is not as straightforward as it would be when you simply have a score to play.

It was a great thrill to listen every night and hear him on NBC radio. Les played just as great then. And then later on, in the 1950s, Les Paul turned the whole world on to guitar. He’s just a terrific, flashy, tasty guitarist.

In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds.

You gotta love livin’, baby, ’cause dyin’ is a pain in the ass.

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

I saw music as a way to entertain people and take them away from their daily lives and put smiles on their faces, as opposed to what I see it being now, which is a way for me to actually communicate, and a way for me to tap into my subconscious.

I thought I had swell ideas and wonderful musicians but no one else did.

Hot can be cool and cool can be hot and each can be both. But hot or cool man, Jazz is Jazz.

Each time I have the opportunity to play, it’s another chance to tell the truth.

There’s two things you can’t live without. Water and music.

Players are coming from other backgrounds: rock, folk, ethnic music. It’s changing Jazz for the better.

I have no elitist concepts about Jazz. I would not be the musician I am today without experiencing invaluable music styles that are at the roots of African American black life and culture.

I guess you can look at me, and tell I’m the old man. My name is BB King.

The violin, the saxophone, the trumpet: Each makes a very different sound but the very same notes. That’s pretty heavy, you know ? Imagine how many different races make up the human race. I’m called colored, you’re called white, he’s called something else. We still got an asshole and a mouth. Pardon me.

May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.