Nina Simone

How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it.

Music is a gift and a burden I’ve had since I can remember who I was.

I do not believe in mixing of the races. You can quote me. I don’t believe in it, and I never have. I’ve never changed. I’ve never changed my hair. I’ve never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I’ve always been. I married a white man one time, but he was a creep.

Jazz is not just music, it’s a way of life, it’s a way of being, a way of thinking.

Sometimes I sound like gravel and sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

Jazz is the continual pulsation of the now.

When I got my first guitar my fingers wouldn’t go to the sixth string so I took off the big E and played with just five strings. I was only 6 or 7.

So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning.

There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven’t yet done.

Jazz is the sound of surprise.

True Jazz lovers understand the rhythms are infectious because they are the roots.

I still love the whole history of Jazz. The old things sound better than ever.

Forgive me if I don’t have the words. Maybe I can sing it and you’ll understand.

Music should never be harmless.

You have to pack as much as you can in an hour or 70 minutes. This time around it was 15 songs, so it was a challenge to get them all the right length so you could get them all on.

I thought I had swell ideas and wonderful musicians but no one else did.

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

Music is your experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

Jazz is an art form that depends on its antecedents. There must be respect for the people that have gone before.