Sarah Vaughan

What was the competition? Well, I remember this Puerto Rican who came out in a short skirt and a gun.

They always ask me the same questions. Where was I born? When did I start singing? Who have I worked with? I don’t understand why they can’t just talk to me without all that question bit.

There are notes between notes, you know.

When I sing, trouble can sit right on my shoulder and I don’t even notice.

Judy Garland was the singer I most wanted to sound like then, not to copy, but to get some of her soul and purity. A wonderful young voice.

There’s a category for me. I like to be referred to as a good singer of good songs in good taste.

I, myself, came to enjoy the players who didn’t only just swing but who invented new rhythmic patterns, along with new melodic concepts. And those people are: Art Tatum, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Parker, who is the greatest genius of all to me because he changed the whole era around.

To get the music the way you want it, there’s a lot of work involved.

A Jazz musician is supposed to find his voice, find his niche and do his thing.

We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we’ve forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We’ve separated music from life.

For most dates I was paid the sum of $1 per hr and they always tipped me at the end of the night.

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

Play for the spiritual aspect, the emotion.

I’ve always wanted a C trumpet on top, to have that same kind of facility without shouting.

I’ll be writing songs till I die. There’s just no question.

Not too slow, not too fast. Kind of half-fast.

When it comes to music, don’t lie to yourself; just tell yourself the truth.

Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe I’m honest.

Musicians need to continue higher learning try to expand the pallet.

Most jazz players work out their solos, at least to the extent that they have a very specific vocabulary.

Genius is a word too often tossed around in musical circles.