Madeleine Peyroux

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

I have a sense of the importance of music and how powerful it is to bring people together.

There’s a lot of recreational Jazz going on, where cats learn a particular style and become sharks on somebody else’s language.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

I have no one style.

The hidden things, the subconscious that lies in the body and lets you know: You feel this, you play this.

One shouldn’t be in the habit of quoting oneself.

Jazz stands for freedom.

I look for a deep, gutty feelin’ in a guitar tone. I don’t use picks. People ask, “How you get that?” It’s just there. There’s a lot of people try to play real fast chords-da da da da da-that ain’t the hard, solid blues. It’s synthetic. It has not feeling to it. You sit down and play some funky, funky guitar. Take your time! Don’t rush it. Just let it come flowing through you. I can play guitar so funky, it’ll bring teardrops to your eyes.

Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.

The whole thing of being in music is not to control it but to be swept away by it.

You can cage the singer but not the song.

When I achieved what I thought the musicians were trying to do, the sound sort of bloomed. When it’s right, everything is beautiful.

If you hit a wrong note, then make it right by what you play afterward.

I can’t sing it straight. I have no choice but to swing it.