Miles Davis

Always look ahead, but never look back.

Don’t worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

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.

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

I don’t like to hear someone put down Dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.

Your sound is you and what you really feel inside.

For years the Trio did nothing but play for musicians and other hip people. We practically starved to death.

If I have to go around telling everyone how great I am, then there’s something wrong with my act.

I like the interplay in the music.

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

It’s like an act of murder; you play with intent to commit something.

By and large Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.

I say this because it’s a good message to give to young talents who feel as I used to. You hear musicians playing with great fluidity and complete conception early on, and you don’t have that ability. I didn’t. I had to know what I was doing. And ultimately it turned out that these people weren’t able to carry their thing very far. I found myself being more attracted to artists who have developed through the years and become better and deeper musicians.I believe in things that are developed through hard work.

An artist should write for himself and not for an audience. If the audience likes it, great. If not, they can keep away.

If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.

I expect the audience to come up to my level.

Music is an addiction.

The qualities in music I consider most important are beauty, simplicity, originality, discrimination and sincerity.

In our local Baptist church, I sang in the choir and formed a gospel quartet. When our minister caught me messing with his guitar, he taught me three positions – one, four and five. After that, I taught myself to play.

All music is beautiful.