Herbie Hancock

The true artform is being a human being.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

In the world of Art there are no wrong choices.

Creativity and artistic endeavors have a mission far beyond just making music for the sake of music.

Jazz translates the moment into a sense of inspiration for not only the musicians but for the listeners.

Jazz? has no boundaries.

It’s not that you want to sing, it’s that you have to sing.

It was a great thrill to listen every night and hear him on NBC radio. Les played just as great then. And then later on, in the 1950s, Les Paul turned the whole world on to guitar. He’s just a terrific, flashy, tasty guitarist.

Improvising musicians are musical travelers, voyagers. There is a freedom to wander the musical landscape.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you

Judy Garland was the singer I most wanted to sound like then, not to copy, but to get some of her soul and purity. A wonderful young voice.

Jazz singing is like pornography. You can’t say what it is, but you know it when you see it.

If you can’t play the Blues you might as well hang it up.

It’s just exciting to be part of something that is brand-new.

We may not be changing the world dramatically, but we’re improving it one note at a time.

[On urging Nyro to tell Barbara Streisand that ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ had been personally written for her] It’s not a big lie.

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

I sing like I feel.

May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.

Well if I could play like Wynton Marsalis, I wouldn’t play like Wynton.