Charles Mingus

I, myself, came to enjoy the players who didn’t only just swing but who invented new rhythmic patterns, along with new melodic concepts. And those people are: Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Parker, who is the greatest genius of all to me because he changed the whole era around.

Jazz music is a language of the emotions.

I always wanted to be a spontaneous composer.

Just because I’m playing Jazz I don’t forget about me. I play or write me the way I feel through Jazz.

Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.

Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.

If I’m not saying it in four choruses or less, then I’m not saying it.

Other than conversation, no other art form can give the satisfaction of spontaneous interaction like Jazz.

One way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn’t keep on, you’ll find ’em. The obstacles are all there; there are a million of ’em.

Especially, I want my work-and the trios if possible-to sing.

No, working is what will keep you alive.

I love it. When they stop imitating me then I’ll start wondering where I’m going wrong. Every day when I sit down to play, I learn something new.

When I got started in New York, if you were different from Miles and Dizzy it was very difficult.

To imitate someone is to insult them.

The time is now.

How do I know why Miles walks off the stage? Why don’t you ask him? And besides, maybe we’d all like to be like Miles, and just haven’t got the guts.

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

I don’t care much about music. What I like is sounds.

I didn’t know the right names for anything at first, but I knew what knocked me out. Changes… man I dug.

I never have any trouble playing anything I can think of. The trouble is thinking of what to play.

Jazz is a beautiful woman whose older brother is a policeman.