In short, [Coltrane's] tone is beautiful because it is functional. In other words, it is always involved in saying something. You can't separate the means that a man uses to say something from what he ultimately says. Technique is not separated from its content in a great artist.

To me, the piano in itself is an orchestra.

Sometimes when it goes really well, you wonder, "who's that at the piano?"

I discovered very early that it wasn't quite enough for me to imitate people.

If you take the creation of music and the creation of your own life values as your overall goal, then living becomes a musical process.

Doesn't that fool know I recorded that song because I like it?

To feel is perhaps the most terrifying thing in this society.