Sammy Davis, Jr.

Ten million dollars after I’d become a star I was deeply in debt.

I have to be a star like another man has to breathe.

Inspiration may be a form of super-consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness—I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness.

Blues is to Jazz what yeast is to bread; without it, it’s flat.

I’ve found you’ve got to look back at the old things and see them in a new light.

I don’t pop my cork for every man I see.

I remember going to sleep many nights with a Gibson catalog, dreaming about getting a Les Paul. I finally did, with a loan from my Dad. It’s a really heavy instrument. But it plays like butter. I met Les backstage at a show once. Jeff Beck made me play ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ for Les, which was a little embarrassing. He changed history, big-time.

The whole thing of being in music is not to control it but to be swept away by it.

Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I play as I feel.

As far back as I can remember, singing was in my blood. My parents loved music, and I loved to sing. I was scatting at an early age.

I love it when people hear my music but can’t figure out what instrument I’m playing.

You never get it figured out. You just keep playing.

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

The Blues and Jazz will live forever. So will the Delta and the Big Easy.

I think you have to leave a lot to the imagination!

Just ’cause I’ve forgotten more than I can play, doesn’t mean it’s not Improv.

The greatest thing about music is putting it out there for people to figure out.