I never thought Jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic.

In improvisation, there are no mistakes.

Trane was the perfect saxophonist for Monk's music because of the space that Monk always used. Trane could fill up all that space with all them chords and sounds he was playing then.

Everybody ought to listen to Benny [Carter]. He's a whole musical education.

You have to practice for a long time before you can learn to sound like yourself

At least one day out of the year all musicans should just put their instruments down, and give thanks to Duke Ellington.

...people will go for anything they don't understand if it's got enough hype. They want to be hip, want always to be in on the new thing so they don't look unhip. White people are especially like that, particularly when a black person is doing something they don't understand...That's what I thought was happening when Ornette hit town.