Miles Davis

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

It’s always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there and I don’t question it.

The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas.

If you’re trying to be hip, be hip!

You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.

Always look ahead, but never look back.

I went through a struggle, and I really needed to get myself together and connect with my purpose, which is music.

Music is the shorthand of emotion

I’m very shy, and I shy away from people. But the moment I hit the stage, it’s a different feeling I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it’s because it’s something I love to do.

When Bird came on the scene, it was shocking as in the Bible: everything was dark and then there was light.

If you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!

Music must be an innovation.

At times in my life the only place I have been happy is when I am on stage.

A young tenor player was complaining to me that Coleman Hawkins made him nervous. Man, I told him Hawkins was supposed to make him nervous! Hawkins has been making other sax players nervous for forty years!

I love it. When they stop imitating me then I’ll start wondering where I’m going wrong. Every day when I sit down to play, I learn something new.

I was never interested in singing in the church or school. I was more interested in becoming a musician.

Playing gives me as much good feeling now as it did when I was a bitty kid.

Every symphony, for example, is a sonata for orchestra; every string quartet is a sonata for four strings; every concerto a sonata for a solo instrument and orchestra.

If I’m going to sing like someone else, then I don’t need to sing at all.

Jazz amounts to Blues, your unique sound and the elusive genius of improvisation.

One of the great moments of my life was when I could write musician on my passport.