You don't know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything.

There's not one Tin Pan Alley song on my record.

Walter Beasley is an anomaly: a successful performing musician who possesses the rare skill of understanding the musical process beyond the intuitive. This special ability enables Walter to communicate with aspiring musicians in a way that removes the sense of mystery that sometimes enshrouds our profession.

What is jazz? It, It's almost like asking, What is French? Jazz is a musical language. It's a musical dialect that actually embodies the spirit of America.

Pop doesn't really look back. It can't. What makes pop work is simplicity.

The way to learn the language is to rip off other players. As Benny Golson told me, "We all start off sounding like other cats. And gradually, a lick here or there,we start to sound like ourselves. But it takes a long time to do so..." That'swhat he told me, and it worked for me.

There is not a sentence in the world that could respectfully do justice to the life and music of Jerry Garcia.