Charlie Haden

We’re here to bring beauty to the world and make a difference on this planet. That’s what art forms are about.

As long as musicians have passion for spontaneity and creating something that’s never been before, Jazz will flourish.

Creative Arts raise a person to another level of consciousness as if you could imagine life before words.

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

Jazz music just resonates with the frequency of me.

I have no one style.

I’ve sung a lot of emotional songs, but when you’re writing it’s very difficult to decide what to reveal.

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

If a Jazz musician plays someone else’s song, he has a responsibility to make a distinct and original statement.

‘Swing’ is an adjective or a verb, not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a ‘swing band’ in music.

I don’t consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can’t develop any further.

I cannot play a lie. I have to believe in what I play or it won’t come out.

Jazz improvisation is an elusive genius.

I’m trying to get people to see that we are our brother’s keeper. Red, white, black, brown or yellow, rich or poor, we all have the blues.

I’d like to feel that whatever I play is a result of whatever I’ve heard.

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 true musician is to bring light into people’s hearts.

I hate to think of Jazz as black and white, something political.