Herbie Hancock

I try stuff. I synthesize what’s of value with some of the other things I have at my disposal.

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

The true artform is being a human being.

Jazz is about being in the moment.

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

It pulled me like a magnet, jazz did, because it was a way that I could express myself.

Darlin… be-bop is the music of the future.

Writing is allowing the musical idea to speak for itself.

The beauty of Jazz is that it’s malleable. People address it to suit their own personalities.

For a long time I wasn’t listening to music, to the rock and roll stuff on the radio, because it would cause me to get sweaty–it would bring back memories I didn’t want to know about, or I would get that feeling that I’m not alive ’cause I’m not making it. And if it was good, I hated it ’cause I wasn’t doing it. And if it was bad, I was furious ’cause I could’ve done it better…

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

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

The value of music is to be able to play one note at the right time in the right way.

I was a nerd academically. But I was also an athlete and a musician. I never wanted to be shut out of any situation. I think it was that more than anything.

So What or Kind of Blue were done in that era, the right hour, the right day. It’s over; it’s on the record.

What we play is life.

Les is an old friend of mine. He gave me this special white Les Paul – he wound the pickups himself – for my birthday, first time I met him. I play everything from heavy metal to blues to jazz on it. He just hit it right on the head when he designed the Les Paul. I like it better than most girlfriends I’ve had. The godfather of rock ‘n’ roll, I call him. Without him, none of us would have a job.

There’s so much music out there and so many possibilities. I like anyone who plays any instrument.

Silence is what makes music sexy. I just move blocks of silence around. The notes are an afterthought.

I think Ive done the best I could have done. But I keep wanting to play better, go further. There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I havent yet done. When I was younger I thought maybe Id reached that peak. But Im 86 now, and if I make it through to next month, Ill be 87. And now I know it can never be perfect, it can never be exactly what it should be, so you got to keep going further, getting better.

Inspiration grows into full-scale creation through persistence and imagination.