Tony Williams

Composing makes me feel like I’ve finally gotten all the way up the ladder as a musician.

By and large Jazz has always been like the kind of a man you wouldn’t want your daughter to associate with.

As long as I can say what it is that I need to say, then I’ll fit whatever I’m trying to say around a melody.

I loved Billie Holiday more than any other person other than myself on the stage.

He knows I rip him off every day. He’s the godfather for me. Nobody can say they aren’t influenced by what Stevie Wonder has done.

Being a Jazz musician is not a rose garden!

I worked hard learning harmony and theory when I was growing up in Chicago in the 1920s.

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.

I like people who have worked long and hard, developing through introspection and dedication.

You can read all the textbooks and listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians that are better than you.

I’m trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it’s difficult is ’cause I’m changing all the time.

If a guy is gonna to play good bop, he has to have a sort of a bop soul.

The saxophone is actually a translation of the human voice, in my conception. All you can do is play melody. No matter how complicated it gets, it’s still a melody.

If you follow your passions, you’ll never work a day in your life.

The thing to judge in any jazz artist is, does the man project and does he have ideas.

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