Herbie Hancock

I think there’s a great beauty to having problems. That’s one of the ways we learn.

Creativity shouldn’t be following radio; it should be the other way around.

The spirit of Jazz is the spirit of openness.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

When I was coming up, I practiced all the time because I thought if I didn’t I couldn’t do my best.

It is people’s hearts that move the age.

Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind.

If I can’t feel it, I don’t want to sing it.

I was really running a music school back then, because my band wasn’t making any money. I keep talking about money, because most people don’t understand the part of money in running a band.

To rise above the crowd, discipline yourself unceasingly to the strict demand and realities of your ambition.

I work very hard at being the best musician I can be because I love it.

I’ll always remember when I first heard Lester [Young]. I’d never heard anyone like him before. He was a stylist with a different sound. A sound I’d never heard before or since. To be honest with you, I didn’t much like it at first.

Have you ever wondered why young people take to music like fish to water? Maybe it’s because music is fun, plain and simple.

Jazz – it takes passion to make it happen!

Jazz will only go where we the composers and musicians take it. It is up to us.

At times as a performer they segregated us in some of theatres.

Only play what you hear. If you don’t hear anything, don’t play anything.

Joe’s been my drummer for 14 years, and we’ve been buddies for six years.

Jazz? has no boundaries.

Oh, my darling, it’s incredible, that someone so unforgettable should think I am unforgettable, too.