Lionel Hampton

Playing is my way of thinking, talking, communicating.

Seemed to me that drumming was the best way to get close to God.

Music was our wife and we loved her. We stayed with her, clothed her and put diamond rings on her hands.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

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

Black and white players hadn’t appeared together in public before Teddy Wilson and I began working with B.G.

Those who were seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music.

I, of course, wanted to play real jazz. When we played pop tunes, and naturally we had to, I wanted those pops to kick! Not loud and fast, understand, but smoothly and with a definite punch.

To this day, no one has come up with a set of rules for originality. There aren’t any.

You want the listener to find the song on their own, give too much away and it takes away from the imagination.

Don’t bullshit, just play.

As soon as it was understood that we could handle things in our own way, it was the thrill of my life to walk out on that stage with people just hemming the band in.

I’m going to make music out of whatever style it is, being true to the artform itself.

I really liked Wynton when I first met him. He’s still a nice young man, only confused.

A name doesn’t make the music. It’s just called that to differentiate it from other types of music.

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

A Jazz man should be saying what he feels: humor, sadness, joy… all the things that humans have.

The whites come to applaud a Negro performer just like the colored do. When you’ve got the respect of white and colored, you can ease a lot of things.

If I’m not saying it in four choruses or less, then I’m not saying it.

Anytime you strike the drums, you have to be aware that you’re creating a musical event.

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