Herbie Hancock

I’m always interested in looking forward toward the future. Carving out new ways of looking at things.

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

The spirit of Jazz is the spirit of openness.

You can practice to learn technique, but I’m more interested in conceiving something in the moment.

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

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

The word “jazz” means to me no category, but when you get stuck into wanting to do something the way it was with the “jazz emblem” or logo chained around your neck, you play in a frozen moment in time and you keep fermenting the ‘fifties saying jazz should be this way or that. Well, if jazz to me means no category, then I’ve got the green light And if it sounds like.. sounds like.. sounds like, and keeps crossing over, it’s what I wanted to do in the first place. I like the way Stravinsky and those guys did things. They expressed something, if not themselves. In fact, some people talk about expression, but expression really doesn’t mean anything to me because there’s a lot of work which goes into building a drama and then it’s up to other people to offer “expression.” Expression is such a nebulous thing.

What I learned the most from Prince was putting art first, being creatively ambitious, and putting creativity at the forefront of what I do.

The saxophone is actually a translation of the human voice, in my conception. All you can do is play melody. No matter how complicated it gets, it’s still a melody.

I’m fascinated with the electronic devices that we can mess around with.

Stop before you’re done.

Technique is the ability to translate your ideas into sound through your instrument.

I am only a mixture of countless influences and thanks to that I am able to find my own style of playing.

If I could sell 500 million records every time, it would be great. But I’ve also had the luxury experience of having it when I was a teenager, in a very kind of model version of it.

I like the music. I love it and live it in fact, but for me the business part just plain stinks.

Technique is the ability to translate your ideas into sound through your instrument. This is a comprehensive technique . . . a feeling for the keyboard that will allow you to transfer any emotional utterance into it. What has to happen is that you develop a comprehensive technique and then say, forget that. I’m just going to be expressive through the piano.

The first time I went to Paris, it just felt like I was home. I didn’t question it.

It angers me how scholars associate the blues strictly with tragedy.

You have a mentor or teacher and you learn all he can show you.

I am inclined to just write music and not worry about what people can or can’t do.

Every day I look forward to getting with my instruments, trying new things.