Dizzy Gillespie

Men have died for this music. You can’t get more serious than that.

I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

They’re not particular whether you’re playing a flat 5th or a ruptured 129th as long as they can dance.

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.

One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange.

They’re not particular about whether you’re playing a flatted fifth or a ruptured 129th as long as they can dance to it.

You only go around once and this ain’t no rehearsal.

Life is a lot like jazz. It’s best when you improvise.

In Jazz, improvisation isn’t a matter of just making any ol’ thing up. Jazz, like any language, has its own grammer and vocabulary. There’s no right or wrong, just some choices that are better than others.

Inspiration comes from tunes you play, other musicians and your own imagination.

The trio is the biggest sound you can have with the smallest unit.

Jazz is a music that allows a person to express his deepest, most personal self.

The fact that an artist is experiencing the joy of creation makes me feel like we’re in it together.

Jazz is not background music. You must concentrate in order to get the most out of it. You must absorb it.

I still do what I love, and I don’t really think about it. I try to make a beautiful show, so people go home happy. That’s my biggest aspiration: to make people happy.

To get the music the way you want it, there’s a lot of work involved.

When there was vinyl, I just loved opening a record and smelling that wonderful smell.

It’s easy in music to tell what’s good. It’s hard to tell what’s bad.

Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.

I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about… Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.

All of the technique doesn’t matter… only if the feeling is right.