Chick Corea

I’ve noticed that the more adventurous and in that mode that I am, it seems that the more the audience really likes it.

It’s very difficult for me to dislike an artist. No matter what he’s creating, the fact that he’s experiencing the joy of creation makes me feel like we’re in a brotherhood of some kind… we’re in it together.

Art is a subject that is inundated with opinions. In fact, that’s all it is about is opinions.

I call myself a teacher because they want me to call myself a teacher, but actually, what I’m doing is I’m studying.

I got a chance to listen to and watch Thelonious Monk and his quartet play two shows a night, for six weeks. It was a great education. There was my university, man.

Miles Davis was a part of my life from 1947 on. I was born in 1941 and I first heard him in 1947 on a 78 rpm. And then I followed his career, starting with his first solo album in 1951. He was an icon and inspiration and a mentor to me.

Dizzy used to tell me I’m playing too hard. He’d say to not give everything. Miles told me that too.

Sound is the first thing that we tune into.

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

The beauty of Jazz is that it’s malleable. People address it to suit their own personalities.

When we were at the Apollo, Holiday was a block away. I asked her for her autograph.

Jazz amounts to Blues, your unique sound and the elusive genius of improvisation.

Jazz musician is a combination entertainer, poet, singer, educator, student, artist, seducer and all-round good fellow.

The qualities in music I consider most important are beauty, simplicity, originality, discrimination and sincerity.

If you want to be a good blues singer, people are going to be down on you, so dress like you’re going to the bank to borrow money.

If everyone liked what I did, I probably wouldn’t be playing anything of depth.

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.

One of the things I like about Jazz, kid, is I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Do you?

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

A Jazz Diet will make you hipper, thinner, taller, smarter, richer, happier and more attractive to members of both sexes.

I think the idea is now for blacks to write about the history of our music. It’s time for that, because whites have been doing it all the time. It’s time for us to do it ourselves and tell it like it is.