Paul Desmond

I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness.

I would like to thank my father who discouraged me from playing the violin at an early age.

I have won several prizes as the world’s slowest alto player and a special award in 1961 for quietness.

I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast.

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

I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini.

I play the way I do cause it allows me to come up w/ the sickest sounds possible. That’s the point now isn’t it?

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive.

Once you become predictable, no one’s interested anymore.

If you like an instrument that sings, play the saxophone. At its best it’s like the human voice

You can separate the men from the boys and ballads.

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.

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

To me, the guitar cuts through. It carries more than the organ, but the organ has got more guts.

[On the word Jazz] There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s only a word. What’s in a name? Nothing! Cats say, Call me Muhammed so-and-so. But what’s the difference? A name doesn’t make the music. It’s just called that to differentiate it from other types of music. Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that’s it. No America, no jazz. I’ve seen people try to connect it to other countries, for instance to Africa, but it doesn’t have a damn thing to do with Africa.

We all do ‘do, re, mi’ but you got to find the other notes yourself.

The audience, they’re not professionals. They just love music. It isn’t necessary to play over their heads to be admired.

When rock music came in, I wasn’t bitter about it. I was puzzled.

When Jazz broke through in England, I remember sneaking to listen on the radio much to my parent’s disapproval.

Life is not about finding our limitations, it’s about finding our infinity.

[on Ornette Coleman] Man, that cat is nuts!