Stanley Clarke

Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? All the rest of you, if you

It’s difficult for me to dislike an artist, no matter what he’s creating.

I could write six songs in one day with everything that’s going on.

The time is now.

People couldn’t give an F about how many cars you got any more. It’s about the way the music sounds, where you’re going, the experience you’re going to hanging out with your friends, the type clothes that you’re wearing – all of that’s art.

I’m not a star. I’m just backing up the cats.

In classical music, only two people are important, the composer and the conductor. Everybody else is a serf. In jazz, a thing of beauty is created collectively with everybody getting to express an idea. And that reflects what democratic society is – or should be.

You want the audience to feel what you’re doing.

I’m a fan first. I believed Duke Ellington when he said there’s no bad music, just some of it is presented badly. As a kid, hanging around Church Street, the presentation of music was so powerful, I couldn’t help but jump for joy. I had discovered art, or truth, or whatever you want to call it; I had seen a light I’d follow forever.

Keep on listening and tapping your feet.

The human being receives the pleasure from music, not from the argument over what it is.

There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead

Jazz is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

You gotta love livin’, baby, ’cause dyin’ is a pain in the ass.

I love songs that are very autobiographical.