Dexter Gordon

What I’m doing, I prefer to call that jazz, because it is a beautiful word – I love it.

Music is a reservoir… of sounds.

Jazz to me is a living music. It’s a music that since its beginning has expressed the feelings, the dreams, hopes, of the people.

When you know the lyrics to a tune, you have some kind of insight as to it’s composition. If you don’t understand what it’s about, you’re depriving yourself of being really able to communicate this poem.

The music scene is more competitive in the States.

Jazz is a living music; since its beginning has expressed the feelings, dreams and hopes of the people.

Don’t settle for style. Succeed in substance.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line.

Your accompanist has a lot to do with how you sing, so experiment and choose your partner wisely.

Sometimes it’s to your advantage for people to think you’re crazy.

There’s nobody plays like me and I don’t play like anybody else.

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive.

If a literary man puts together two words about music, one of them will be wrong.

After the music is over it’s gone in the air. You can never capture it again.

Blues purists never cared for me. I don’t worry about it. I think if it this way: When I made ‘Three O’ Clock Blues’, they were not there. The people out there made the tune. And blues purists just wrote about it. The people is who I’m trying to satisfy.

Today Jazz music is performed and listened to by people of all ethnicity, backgrounds, ages and creeds.

I’m always looking to create new avenues or new visions of music.

People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a Jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.

It is great to have your own label; you can cultivate your own artists… I’ve worked with pretty much everyone I wanted to.

It’s not what they think, it’s about what’s best for the music.

It’s not all smoke and mirrors. Some of it comes from books.