Jon Hendricks

Bird said he worked as dishwasher at Onyx Club on 52nd St. in the early 1940s just to hear Art Tatum play.

In order to be honest with myself, I have to reveal more of who I am. This is a part of the improv process.

Give it a good go, try to have fun at it, try to pass on some good notes and some good sounds to your fans, and I don’t think you will have wasted your time.

I cringed when I heard myself described as a Jazz singer. I’ve always thought of myself as a Jazz vocalist.

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.

It is better to be felt than to be heard.

If you want to play somebody’s music, you’d better go into his house.

The radio makes hideous sounds.

Jazz musician is a combination entertainer, poet, singer, educator, student, artist, seducer and all-round good fellow.

Jazz without the Blues is like BBQ without the sauce.

I like an element of chaos in music. That feeling is the best thing ever.

I didn’t need to worry about keys, chords, melody if I had that emotion that brought tears and laughter to people’s hearts.

Play what you feel, feel what you play.

Working with Benny was important for me and for black musicians in general.

When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people.

Jazz is such a powerful cultural statement that it’s almost as if it’s intertwined with society.