Thelonious Monk

Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

I compose my pieces with a formula that I created myself.

I find my inspiration in myself.

I’m famous… ain’t that a bitch?

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

[on Ornette Coleman] Man, that cat is nuts!

I’ve always liked the Freddie King/B. B. King rich tone, and at the same time, I like the manic Buddy Guy/Otis Rush Strat tone. So I’m always caught in the middle of the Gibson and Fender sounds. If I’m playing my black [Fender] Strat, and I’m in the middle of a blues, I kind of wish I was playing a [Gibson] Les Paul. Then again, if I was playing a Les Paul, the sound would be great, but I’d be saying, “Man, I wish I had the Stratocaster neck!”

Being a musician is what I do, but it’s not what I am.

I don’t consider myself a musician who has achieved perfection and can’t develop any further.

Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.

Of the whole bunch of guys who play hollow body guitar, I think Herb Ellis has the most drive.

We’re not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour.

Jazz is an idea that is more powerful than the details of its history.

Talent is only the starting point.

When you listen to a pianist, each notes should have an identity, each note should have a soul of its own.

There are no natural barriers. It’s all music.

I’ve sung a lot of emotional songs, but when you’re writing it’s very difficult to decide what to reveal.

I adore extravagance but I abhor waste.

The blues fitted in with the early 60s, the social way of life at the time.

If one were asked to name one musician who came closest to composing without human flaw, I suppose general consensus would choose Johann Sebastian Bach.

The deeper you get into the music allows the ability to appreciate art and all other forms of expression.