Sonny Rollins

I’m now a legend, whether I want to be or not.

One very important thing I learned from Monk was his complete dedication to music. That was his reason for being alive. Nothing else mattered except music, really.

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

My improvisations are a beguiling mixture of the vertical and the horizontal.

I simply want to reach a level where I will never cease to make progress…so that, even on the bad evenings, I may never be bad enough to despair.

Even if you have some brilliant jazz ideas, it’s going to be difficult to get them across unless you have 1-a distinctive sound or 2- a loud sound. These are musts.

It’s part of what the blues does, to write about these things. JB Lenoir was the main one in this regard – he wrote about Korea, too, in fact. Songs that reflect these current situations – in his case, racial issues for the most part: in my case, what has happened to me, and I was in Korea.

I stole everything I ever heard, but mostly I stole from the horns.

I wrote “Pilot of My Destiny” because of my love of flying. The fact that my brother is a pilot inspired me to write it. I call him pilot. He calls me copilot.

I don’t compose. I assemble materials.

I don’t have a favorite song that I’ve written. But I do have a favorite song: ‘Always on My Mind,’ the Willie Nelson version. If I could sing it like he do, I would sing it every night. I like the story it tells.

As long as you’ve got your horn in your mouth, you’re developing.

I want a kick to my band, but I don’t want the rhythm to hog the spotlight.

All music is beautiful.

The expression of freedom that is Jazz improvisation mirrors the ethos of the best parts of society.

The genius of our country is improvisation, and jazz reflects that. It’s our great contribution to the arts.

I wanna hear myself everywhere

People complain about the music industry, but this is a great time to be a musician.

In my opinion, I think sarcasm and humor in a song, without turning it into a novelty song, is really charming.

Trying to play the new concept with a outward bound feeling.

I play whatever the hell comes out… that’s it.