Stefon Harris

I’ve said that playing the blues is like having to be black twice. Stevie Ray Vaughan missed on both counts, but I never noticed.

The joy of music should never be interrupted by a commercial.

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

To imitate someone is to insult them.

Music always turns into music. As soon as I play a key, push a key down, there’s no theory any more. When I go and I hear a sound on the keyboard, all theories go out the window.

Look for the one who’s not smiling and play to that person. Once you’ve got that person, you’ve got the whole club.

Everybody has somebody that they patterned themselves after.

It’s always been a gift with me, hearing music the way I do. I don’t know where it comes from, it’s just there and I don’t question it.

Music isn’t just learning notes and playing them. You learn notes to play the music of your soul.

How do I know why Miles walks off the stage? Why don’t you ask him? And besides, maybe we’d all like to be like Miles, and just haven’t got the guts.

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

If you want to play somebody’s music, you’d better go into his house.

Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state.

Canada has a passive-aggressive culture, with a lot of sarcasm and righteousness. That went with my weird messianic complex. The ego is a fascinating monster. I was taught from a young age that I had to serve, so that turned into me thinking I had to save the planet.

I’m sure critics have their purpose, and they’re supposed to do what they do, but sometimes they get a little carried away with what they think someone should have done, rather than concerning themselves with what he did.