Steve Lacy

I fell in love with Jazz when I was 12 listening to Duke Ellington and hearing a lot of Jazz in New York on the radio.

Risk is at the heart of Jazz. Every note we play is a risk.

In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds.

People don’t want to suffer. They want to sound good immediately and this is one of the biggest problems.

I still love the whole history of Jazz. The old things sound better than ever.

In composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in 15 seconds, in improvisation you have 15 seconds.

All of the technique doesn’t matter… only if the feeling is right.

People who are meant to be drawn to your music will find you.

As long as there are people trying to play music in a sincere way, there will be Jazz.

The sign of a mature musician is knowing what not to play.

What makes my approach special is that I do different things. I do jazz, blues, country music and so forth. I do them all, like a good utility man.

If I can’t feel it, I don’t want to sing it.

If I’m not saying it in four choruses or less, then I’m not saying it.

When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind.

If you feel like tapping your feet, tap your feet.

The louder they [the band] play the softer I sing.

Mozart tapped the source from which all music flows, expressing himself with a spontaneity and refinement and breathtaking rightness.

Django was the definitive genius on the guitar, and the depth of his gift was so spectacular.

When you hear my lyrics, you hear the shots that I throw at people. I throw shots because I always been the underdog. I got rejected so many times, and I say it in my lyrics constantly.

My style is to just play. The more “live” you capture your music-the more unthought-out-the more magical it is.

I always had a deep feeling to be one with the very minute I’m in.