Sal Nistico

Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm and gaiety to life.

Audiences are smart. They are not going to come out to see you unless you are honest.

Black and white players hadn’t appeared together in public before Teddy Wilson and I began working with B.G.

I bought my first electric guitar when I moved to Memphis; a Gibson with a DeArmond pickup which I used with a small Gibson amplifier.

If you follow your passions, you’ll never work a day in your life.

I like what I hear other guys doing, but the thing that really attracts me is melodic playing.

If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time!

I don’t try to please when I play. I try to cure.

A kiss that is never tasted, is forever and ever wasted.

Living is easy with eyes closed.

Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music for the first time, as if I had never heard it before.

Jazz is a sideways glance at music. It’s like being an architect, knowing the basis of design but understanding that the façade can be whatever you dream. I’m a free person. I don’t want to be tied down.

There’s so many ways you can hit one note.

I feel that Jazz improvisation is the ultimate. You have to create on the spot, the essence of this music.

I think I love it more as I get older because I keep getting better on drums, vibes and piano.